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I went to the track this weekend and the best 60ft time I got was 2.4. I have the Nitto DR's and ran them at 12 psi. I had my launch controller set at 3800, and spun all through first and second, then set it to 3100 and the same, ran without the launch controller and of course it takes too long to build my boost up, so no tire spin but still not a good 60ft. The track is an old cold war airfield so its not that great either. I didnt hold my burn out until I saw smoke or anything because Im affraid of blowing a tire when I still have to drive the car a hundred miles back home. Im running .5 bar of boost, and I guess Im just dumping the clutch so that might be part of my problem, but I still shouldnt be spinning all through second. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
There are a lot of things which could happen to keep you from driving home, but I think blowing a tire is the least of your worries.
The Nittos are very temperature sensitive. They need to be warm.
Dumping the clutch on DR's, you can expect to spin. Its better to either ride the clutch out a few feet while maintaining rpm or just leave like you do on the street and then ease into the throttle. I see so many people at the track that spin and shift early, bogging the car in 2nd. Better to go through 1st 1/2 throttle and 2nd 3/4 and nailing it in 3rd. Nothing will replace seat time.
And tires need to be warm to have any reasonable chance. Burnouts don't blow tires unless you're out of tread. There's also no substitute for good track prep.
Warm them up! I managed to pull a 1.66 on my nittos at 18psi. I wouldn't drop the clutch either. I ran the engine up to about 4500 and slipped the clutch until the car was rolling and laid in it. I run a big cam thats a little soft on the low end so you probably don't need to rev the engine that high. I would slip the clutch a little though.
Thanks for all the advice, I appreciate it. The only reason I worry about the blow out is because it happened to someone the last time I went. I dont have much track time at all and Im quite unexperienced in the 1/4. And I get a little anxious because I have to wait at least an hour between runs because its so crowded.
launching a manual turbo car is very hard but can be done. first thing I would do, if you're looking for a good number, is ditch the DR's and get a drag pack with MT ET streets rear and skinnies up front. that will help with traction and the softer sidewall will also take some of the initial shock to the driveline, which should help keep things together longer.
to get the car to leave in boost you're going to either need some kind of launch control device OR you can bounce the rev's to build boost. the later is much harder to describe in text, but it does work and you won't need to hook up any launching aids. before launch control became widely available that was the method of choice, I still prefer it over an electronical aid.