Some of this was pulled from a srt board I frequent, but its still great info none the less, just subsitute fwd for rwd in some of the applications.
First Time Prep
Before you go to the drag strip for the first time, read the tutorials on this web site: http://www.staginglight.com/resources/index.html. It’s very useful in describing how the tree works, and how to launch to get the best possible reaction time (RT) and elapsed time (ET). A good ET gives you bragging rights, but if you race head-to-head for fun or money, you’ll also need to improve your RTs.
Car Prep
Empty all the junk out of your car. For simple weight reduction, remove the spare tire and jack for starters. It’s also quite easy to remove the front passenger seat – just unscrew the 4 bolts with a 15 mm ratcheting wrench. The rule of thumb is that each 100 lbs removed shaves off approximately one tenth from your ET. You can do lots more with weight reduction if you want to go that way (remove back seat, power steering pump, etc.) but it’s probably not worth the effort your first few times out.
Bring a good tire gauge and a portable air pump. I have one that plugs into my cigarette lighter – nice to have in case you’ve lowered tire pressure too low and want to raise it again.
Staging
If this is your first time, watch some cars run. Pay close attention to what’s happening in the staging area. It’s one thing to read about it, quite another to watch it, and very different once you do it yourself.
Follow local track rules about tech inspection (if any), and safety rules such as driving 5 mph or less in the pit areas. Normally, you will be assigned a number and write it in white shoe polish on your left side rear window. Once your car is completely prepped, pull into staging lanes with the street cars. Some tracks run separate lanes for street cars, cars with slicks, motorcycles, and dragsters.
Fasten your seat belt. When you’re near the front of the line, make sure your windows are rolled up. If it’s dark out, run with your parking lights only – no headlights.
The starter will signal for you and the car next to you to pull up to the staging area. There is a little dip on each side filled with water for folks with slicks and drag radials to do burnouts. DO NOT drive through the water box if you’re on street tires. Take turns with the other car and drive through the middle area, then move to the left or right, the same position as you were waiting in line.
Note: Some people do a quick spin of the front tires to remove dirt and pebbles. I don’t even bother. Most street tires do best if you don’t heat them up too much, as opposed to slicks, which do much better when heated.
There will probably be two cars at the tree – stay well back until they launch down the track. Pull up to the tree and go very slow when you are near tripping the first light beam. When your front tire breaks the beam, the first row of double lights at the top of the tree will light up. Let the other car do the same – it’s not polite to stage if the other driver is not quite ready.
Take a deep breath and clear your head. Raise the revs to 1800-2000 rpm and slowly ease the car forward until the second set of double yellow lights turns on. Try to stop exactly when the second set of staging lights is on – this is called “shallow staging”, and is more likely to give you the best possible ET. Hold the clutch so it’s just ready to engage, but not quite. Once both cars have tripped both beams, it means you are ready to run.
Hold your revs steady, and now, give the tree your undivided attention. It will count down: Yellow 1, Yellow 2, Yellow 3, GREEN! Conventional wisdom says drop the clutch or release it quickly on the third yellow. If you wait until the green light, your reaction time (RT) will be terrible, though RT does not affect your elapsed time (ET). It only matters if you’re racing head-to-head or bracket racing.
The Run
If you launch just right, you will get virtually no wheel spin, then move off the line quickly with little or no wheel hop. Now, concentrate on your shifts. The 1-2 shift comes up fast. Shift around 5800 rpm(depending on car/tranny)), and try not to hit the rev limiter. Make your shifts smoothly, quickly, and cleanly. For the 2-3 and 3-4 shifts, you should be at 5800-6000 rpm.(again, depending on car/tranny)
For those of you who don’t have much experience with a manual tranny, try to relax. Do not put a death grip on the shift knob and slam it into each gear. For the 1-2 and 3-4 shifts, just pull the shift knob back firmly and smoothly with your index, middle, and ring fingers. For the 2-3 shift, push the shift knob forward at a slight diagonal with the palm of your hand. The spring will naturally pop the shifter to the neutral point between 3 and 4, and you continue to push it straight up into 3rd gear. A clean 2-3 shift is a little tougher, but you’ll get it right with practice.
Some people like to power shift – that’s shifting while holding the accelerator to the floor, typically on the 2-3 and 3-4 shifts. I don’t think it’s worth potentially destroying your clutch to shave a tenth or two, but some people use this method with great success. It’s a personal choice.
Make sure you keep it floored until you pass the timing tower. Hit the brakes and take one of the turnoffs, making sure you don’t cut off the other car in the process. Drive up the little road and pick up your time slip at the booth, then go to the pit area to let your tires and engine cool off for a while.
Improving
After your run, take a few moments to think about what went right and what didn’t. Also, look at your time slip for clues. Your 60’ time is a good indicator of how well you launched, and your launch is vital to the run.
To get your 60’ time down, adjust ONE thing on each run. First, get comfortable with your launch style. Some people like to drop the clutch, others slip it. My best RTs and 60’ times happen when I inch forward on the second yellow and release the clutch fast (not dumped) on the third yellow. That’s for a cold track. If the track is warm, I do just as well by just releasing fast on the third yellow. You will have to experiment.
Once you are comfortable with a launch style, keep it consistent. Now, start adjusting your tire pressure. If you’re spinning too much or getting wheel hop, lower by 2-3 psi per run until your trap speeds get worse, then go back to the previous “best” tire pressure. Some folks go as low as 18-20 psi up front. Below that, you risk damaging street tires or debeading them (they come off the rim). I usually don’t need to go below 25 psi. Again, you will have to experiment.
Now, adjust your launch rpms. If you are spinning too much, lower by 200-300 rpm per run until you find the best rpm. Similarly, if you’re bogging, raise the launch rpm 200-300 per run until you get a little wheel spin.
If you have adjustable shocks, you can tweak those to get your best launch with the least wheel hop. Again, ONLY adjust one thing per run Otherwise, you won’t know which adjustment helped, and they may even cancel each other out.
Remember, one of the best mods for your car is practice. Learning your optimal launch technique, launch rpm, tire pressure, shock settings, and shift points will make a world of difference – and no two cars (or drivers) are exactly the same. Practice, experiment, and most important – have fun!
NEXT STEPS - Simple Tricks, Mods, and Bolt-ons
It’s nice to get some baseline runs at the track, just to see what you can do “bone stock”. After that, you’ll be itching to lower your ET, so here are a few tricks, mods, and bolt-ons. Detailed instructions for the mods and expected hp/torque improvements are beyond the scope of this guide, and can be found by performing a search of the forums and the FAQ. There are a few good sticky posts in other forums on upgrade paths, also.
Bag of Ice – Some people cool off the intake manifold with a bag of ice between runs. Of course, the ice will eventually melt, the bag will spring a leak, and if you’re in the staging lanes, other drivers and/or the officials will not appreciate you dumping water all over the place. Use your bag of ice in the pit area and remove it while you’re waiting to stage. Better yet, do the fan mod.
Boost Controller – Does just what the name says. There are relatively inexpensive manual boost controllers (MBC) ranging up to some expensive, sophisticated Electronic Boost Controllers (EBC).
Burnout - You don’t need to do a burnout on street tires. You can give them a quick spin to remove small rocks, but if you heat them up too much, your traction will get worse. The opposite is true for drag radials or slicks – they need to be heated up to give you the best traction. To perform a burnout on DRs: drive slowly through the dip in the water box and roll ahead a foot, so front tires are still on the wetted area. Put the car in first gear, and raise your revs to 4000 rpm or so. Release the clutch quickly, and your front tires should start spinning and smoking a bit. If you have a 2003, turn the steering wheel left and right a bit to make sure both tires spin. Let the spinning tires pull your car forward toward the staging lights, then let off the gas. DO NOT go flying past the staging lights unless you are driving a pro stock or a dragster. Note: There is no need to pull the e-brake for a big smoky burnout on DRs. I’ve tried both ways, and this method works just as well with less wear and tear on the car.
Bushings Kit – aftermarket shifter bushing kit is a cheap, effective way to firm up the shifts.
Catch Can – This won’t really improve your ETs, but it will keep them from getting worse over time. The $20 catch can or an aftermarket version will capture oil that gets through the PCV, and routed back to the intake where it can soak your air filter or wind up in the intercooler.
Dollar Mod – A cheap, effective boost bleed that allows you to raise boost above stock levels without a boost controller.
Drag Radials – These tires are a nice compromise between street tires and slicks. They have some tread so they are street legal, but if you drive on them all the time, they’ll wear out pretty quickly. They are typically mounted on a smaller, lighter rim, such as 15x7, so you can mount a wider, higher profile tire. DR’s are more convenient than slicks, because you can swap them on at home and drive on them back and forth to the track. Your 60’ times will be one to two tenths better with DR’s, which translates to 2-3 tenths on your ET. You must learn to do a proper burnout to get the most out of DR’s.
Dyno – Once you start raising the boost, it’s a very good idea to get in a few dynamometer (dyno) runs to make sure your mods are actually adding power and torque, and especially to make sure your air/fuel ratio looks “safe” (around 12:1) so you don’t blow your motor. You can also use a dyno to help tune your mods that are adjustable. (See also, wideband).
Intake – There are many aftermarket cold air intakes available, and even a few variants of “welfare” intake. Power gains are minimal, but it does free up a good bit of space in the engine bay for your tinkering pleasure.
Intercooler Sprayer – A new intercooler is pretty expensive, but you can get more out of the stock ‘cooler by adding a sprayer. Cheaper versions will spray water or alcohol to help cool the intake charge. A water sprayer is yet another way to irritate the track officials if it drips too much water while you’re staging. Also, you don’t want water dripping in front of your tires right before you launch.
Exhaust – There are some reasonably priced catback exhausts, but a full 3” catback or turboback exhaust can be expensive. Do some research and think about your long term goals before investing. One alternative is to get a 3” downpipe with or without a cutout. Then you can add the rest of the exhaust later if desired. Another alternative is a side exit exhaust.
Exhaust Cutout – This is a short “Y” pipe inserted either on the downpipe or right after it. A manual cutout costs $30 or less. Remove a small plate at the track, and your exhaust gases shoot out the side, bypassing the rest of your restrictive stock piping. For another $150 or so, you can get an electronic version that allows you to open and close the plate from the driver’s seat, without crawling underneath the car.
Fan Mod – A toggle switch and simple electrical connection allows you to run the fan by itself and keep the engine cool. Note that a similar effect can be achieved by running the defroster or air conditioner. However if you run the A/C, your car will start dripping water and you could get booted out of the staging lanes.
Gauges - There are reasonably priced gauges on the market which can give you some insight into your car’s behavior (good or bad) without a full blown tuning setup (wideband, fuel computer, laptop w. logging software, etc.). For example, I use a gauge that displays 14 different parameters, two at a time, including ignition advance, knock retard, MAP, narrow band reading, etc. It also has a programmable shift light built right in! This is a nice, inexpensive step between bolt-n-go, and full tuning.
LCA Bushings – The front lower control arm bushings deflect badly on hard launches and contribute to wheel hop. You can replace these with metal or polyurethane LCA bushings for a much smoother launch. (See also: motor mounts, traction bars).
Intercooler - There is a wide variety of intercooler (FMIC) upgrades on the market. A direct fit intercooler works with the existing crash bar, but doesn’t give as much hp gain as a large / racing intercooler. With a large FMIC, you must take off the crash bar (risky) or buy / fabricate a new one that will fit.
Motor Mounts – You can buy filled motor mounts or cheap inserts to help reduce wheel hop when you launch. You WILL get wheel hop as soon as you start modding the car, and possibly on a hard launch if you’re bone stock. Wheel hop slows you down and tends to break axles and differentials, so don’t delay this mod for long.
O2 Housing – This is the piece between the turbo and the downpipe. Some aftermarket units are reasonably priced, but the installation is relatively difficult, especially for a newbie.
Practice – Can’t stress this enough. If you’ve never drag raced before, your biggest improvements in RT and ET will come with practice, and not by adding another cheap mod from this list.
Push the Car – Yes, some people actually push the car along in the staging lanes to keep the motor cool. Even if it doesn’t help much, it’s good exercise. It’s also good practice for the first time you break an axle.
Slicks – Once you raise the boost and power, traction can be a real issue. Slicks are soft compound tires with no tread, and it’s illegal (and dangerous) to drive them on the street, so you must swap them on at the track – or get a trailer. Like DRs, slicks are mounted on smaller, lighter, wider wheels. You will need to do a good burnout to get the most out of slicks. Your 60’ times will drop an amazing 3 to 4 tenths versus street tires, and ETs will drop 4 to 6 tenths, even on a mildly modded car. You’ll have to lower the tire pressure up front (12-15 psi), and launch at 4000-5000 rpm by dropping the clutch. Don’t feather the clutch with slicks, or you’ll fry it in a hurry. Slicks are great bang for the buck, but that doesn’t include the cost of occasionally breaking an axle or differential with all that extra traction. Think about buying aftermarket axles if you run slicks with high horsepower and torque. Also, a “cheap” way to try slicks is borrow them from a friend to get in a few record-breaking runs before buying a set yourself.
Spark Plugs – The stock plugs work fine with mild mods. Once you raise the boost, it’s a good idea to get a new set and gap them tighter. You can also get aftermarket plug wires, coil pack, and “colder” plugs as you raise the boost and power. There are cheap Hemi plugs a range colder than our stockers which work fine.
Short Throw Shifter – A short shifter can help cut the time between shifts and keep you in the power band. If you’re installing one, it may be worth installing a better set of bushings at the same time.
Suspension Mods – Items such as stronger springs, adjustable shocks, or coilovers are not cheap, but they are very beneficial in autocross or road racing, so you can rationalize that they were “free” for drag racing. They help minimize the effect of weight transfer on your launch and keep the front end more firmly planted.
Thermostat – You can buy a 160 or 180 degree thermostat for 5-15 bucks. This really helps cool the motor while running, because the thermostat opens at the designated temp (160 or 180) to circulate coolant. There seems to be a “magic temp” around 170, where you can pick up 1-2 mph in trap speeds. (The stock thermostat opens at 195 degrees).
Track – The altitude and condition of your local track will vary. Low altitude is better, though it has less impact on a turbo car than a normally aspirated car. If you run your car on a Test ‘n Tune day, try to pick a day that’s close to a big upcoming track event. There will be more dragsters, pro stocks, etc. hanging out, and suddenly the track officials will get busy, dust off a few barrels of VHT, and actually prep the track for your driving pleasure.
Traction Bars - This is a relatively cheap suspension mod, and highly recommended if you have wheel hop. With traction bars installed, my average 60’ times on drag radials dropped nearly a tenth, and wheel hop nearly disappeared.
Weather – The current weather conditions can make a significant impact on your runs. Optimum conditions are cool, dry air with temps in the 50-60 range on a sunny day. The sun keeps the track warm for traction, and the cool air is denser, resulting in more power. If the air is too cold, the track may also cool off and you’ll lose traction. Also, you can lose traction if the track surface is too hot and it starts to get gooey.
Weight Reduction – There are two methods to reduce weight. First, pull stuff out of the car you don’t need for the run: wife, kids, crap in the trunk, spare, jack, passenger seat, rear seat, power steering pump, air conditioner, etc. You can strip the car if you want to go radical. A complementary, but more expensive solution is to replace parts with lighter components, such as a carbon fiber hood, carbon fiber trunk lid, lightweight battery, etc.
Wheels - For drag racing, you want them smaller, lighter, and wider than stock.
Wideband - For those who want to do more than a few bolt-ons and do some real tuning, this is a “must have”. A wideband lets you read air/fuel ratio in real time, or logged. Once you start fuel tuning, this will be much cheaper than repeated trips to a dyno.