Well, I knew it would eventually come to this. On Friday, I'm going to take the Corvette to the New England Dragway to give it a thrash. I've never done this before, and any pointers or suggestions would be fantastic. Also, any time/et predictions based on my sig, just so I dont dissapoint myself? Thanks everyone! :cheers:

 

Go really fast.

 

4.56 gears?? :eek: I'm afraid to hazard a guess! 13 secs at 85 mph?? :jester <=(That is a JOKE!!) MJ

 

Hit it on the 3rd amber and don't look back. Your gonna need slicks with those gears your running.
Dan :cheers:


[Modified by vettedan, 2:42 PM 4/25/2002]

 

Those 4.56 gears are a pretty stiff gear for the combo you are running. You do not have a real high rpm combe to take advantage of the gears. When you stage light the two top little lights and stay still. Wait for the 3rd amber bulb and go. If you see the green light bulb you are late. My first reaction time was a 1.52 and my 60 foot was 2.56. I have gotten down to a best light of .501 I average .650 and a 1.97 60 foot time. This is after many runs. Don't be embarrased everybody does this on their first runs. Learn from your previous runs and keep trying. It is a ton of fun and you can thrash your car legally. Have fun and drive fast. Let us know what you do. :)

 

I'm taking mine out tomorrow night for the first time as well. Should be fun!

 

Very important with street or drag tires is to let the air down to around 15 PSI. This makes a huge difference , especially if you spin normally. the point is to prevent spin while launching as fast as possible of the line. I have seen cars gain .2 secs just by going from 20 PSI to 15 PSI.

 

Get some depends. :jester

 

Yeah, what he said above & stay out of the water ! ...it'll trickle down & form a pool which causes massive tire spin - if it does spin on ya - back off the accelerator & then hit it again :D :cool: :cheers:

 

but some tracks make you go through the water like atco, nj. If theyy make ya, youll have to do like I did in my sig....have fun! :lol:

 

I agree with Chris. At Atco you need to do a big burnout to get rid of the water. If you can go around do it. I don't agree with letting the pressure out of street tires. Drag radials and slicks yes. They are designed to flex. Street radials if you let to much pressure out of them you will run on the outside of the tire. Go on a clean road and do a burnout and see what the contact patch is. Let the air out 2 pounds at a time and look for the best contact patch and run at that pressure. Every car will be different. You need to experiment for best traction. Have fun.


[Modified by Gordonm, 7:18 PM 4/25/2002]

 

Have fun, take some pics and let me know what it costs ya.
Gary
:D

 

Just a reminder that there is also a Drag Racing forum on this site. Also, we're having a track rental at Lebanon Valley Dragway, West Lebanon, NY (near Albany) on May 10. Check out this post for details:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=282343

 

Oh come on, we know you got a line lock on that thing,,,, :jester

:flag


[Modified by Clink69, 9:44 PM 4/25/2002]

 

[QUOTE]Oh come on, we know you got a line lock on that thing,,,, :jester
[QUOTE]
:yesnod: I agree
Paul

 

Who needs line locks, I just power brake! Burn rubber burn!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
Dan

 

To prepare the car:

Remove any unessisary weight from storage compartments like tools and jack and such. Drop the spare tire but keep the tire cover(holder)in place. I had better traction off the line with 20psi in rear. Pump front tires up hard to decrease rolling resistance. Remove trim rings from and caps from wheels if applicable. Get no more than 1/2 tank of good quality high test. Do anything reasonable to keep total vehicle weight as low as possible. Make sure your radiator overflow can is in place and functional, as you may flunk tech inspection if not. Also cant be missing any lug nuts. Make sure brakes are good. You'll need good brakes to hold you on the line before launch. Bring a helmet as you may run quick enough that they require you to wear one. Here, anything faster than 14.0 requires a helmet.

To prepare yourself:

Assuming you have an auto tranny
Practice some launches before you go. Put the tranny in gear and hold foot on brake hard. Push down on accellerator to the point where the car really wants to move. Then simultaineously release the brake and push the throttle. The point is, the reaction of the brake releasing is quicker than that of the gas being aplied. This is why you sort of powerbrake it of the line. If your car spins easy you may have to delay the full pedal to the metal punch untill yur out of the hole a certain distance. Launce on the third yellow and keep the car as straight as possible down thru the traps at the end of track. The tach is your most important instrument during the run. if you tranny wont shift on its own at the optimum point, then manually shift just before your topend limit.

if yur anything like me, no matter how much thought and practice you give to the matter, when you get up there, your heart will be pounding and your adrenlin flowin strong. Even after many times racing I still feel this way when getting up on the line. Its a serious rush for me. Do your best to relax and have a good time.

 

Also NO shorts....

:flag

 

How do you power brake a 4spd? Serious question.. I know you can bring up the rpms and pop the clutch but then ya gonna move.. How do you smok'em.. like my car can really do that anyway.. :lol: :lol: without moving forward?

 

Most of all have fun! No doubt you will have sweaty palms your first trip to the starting line.

My tips:

Bring a helmet
wear pants
manually shift (if it's an automatic)
"drive it like you hate it"
if you have street tires avoid the water and do a light, quick burnout to heat the tires