OK, guys (or gals, Liz!), I need a quick lesson. There is a guy here at work who has challenged me to race, and I don't know the first thing about racing. It would be on a legal 1/4 mile track. He has a slightly modified Mustang GT with a manual tranny; I have a stock C5 coupe with an A4. (No slams against the Mustang, please. I'm sure he knows more about what he's doing than I do.)

What do I do? Do I just put it in 3rd, punch it to the floor and hang on, or what?

Also, my Vette is my daily driver and has to get me to work every day. Am I likely to break something by taking it to the track?

 

With your stock C5 A4, that's pretty much about all you can do. One tip.....do not drive through the "water box" that's there for the big boys and their soft rubber tires. Get your tires wet and all you'll do is spin and slide around.

Good luck.

 

first mustangs dont have 6-speeds only 5

second if hes mustang is stock it runs inbetween 14.9-15.5 (depends on the driver) you will definitly beat that

but if he has mods and hes going to need alot to make that kind of time up he might tie

 

As you pull up to the staging area you'll see a large wet spot, for people with drag radials and slicks this is where you would pull up to do a burn out but if your running the stock runflats you'll want to go wide of this area, pull around it and then back up enough to give yourself room to do a good burn out. This will allow the tires to heat up and get sticky, then you want to make sure your in third gear before you hit the staging lights, when the third yellow light comes on punch it, don't go all the way to the floor but a little more than 3/4 throttle then after a second you should be all the way to the floor.

I left out the most important part, you need to be in competitive mode (if your car has this) or turn off traction control, leave active handling engaged though.

You going to test-n-tune this week?

 

Yep. Put it in 3rd, floor it, hold on, and win.

IB4TL, too

 

Shows you how little I know! Thanks!

 

Maybe, but I don't know any details about the track and times and such. All I know is it's around the Memphis Motorsports Park. Saturday night?? PM me if you know. Thanks!

 

No, no lock... please, mods? It's at a legal track (see above), not a street race. Can I still post about it here??

 

If his car is not heavily modified, I like your chances.

OK then check this out. And obviously you'll want to watch a few races before you try it yourself!!!!!!! Go to the track one day and just watch. Pay attention to where the return road entrances are. These allow you to return to the pits after the run.
I always choose the second or third entrance. Never the first.

http://www.modernracer.com/tips/dragracingbasics.html

http://www.speedworldmotorplex.com/tips.htm

Immediately after starting your car up, push and hold the traction control button untill you see the "Competitive Mode" in the DIC.

Put the gear selector in 3.

Pull around the water area, don't go through the water box and if they try and wet the area wave them off. You don't want water for a burnout.

The next part is optional.

You can either leave from idle, OR.......

Put your left foot on the brake and your right on the gas and bring the RPMs up a bit, say about 1100RPM and hold them there untill..........

When you see the third yellow, do not wait untill you see the green, on the third yellow, in one motion, come off the brake and mash and hold the gas till the finish line.

The reason you want to hit it on the third yellow is that by the time the car starts moving the green would have come up. Don't wait for the green. GO when you see that third yellow.

Goes without saying don't look anywhere but directly in front of you. Forget the speedometer, the HUD, etc when going down the track. Your peripheral vision will tell you when you have passed the finish point.

One more thing. It is very unusual to break something in a stock Vette on a drag strip. They are designed and built to be driven just like you are about to drive it. If it is factory stock you'd just about have to be attempting to break something in order for it to break.

People typically start breaking things when they start adding more power to the stock C5 engine or significantly stickier tires to the stock C5.

You will be running at wide open throttle for just over 13 seconds. Thats nothing for your car. This is not much if any harder on your car than taking a road trip of say 2-3 hours and averaging 75-80mph.

BUT!!!!!!! If you do break something DO NOT TELL THE DEALER THAT YOU BROKE IT WHILE RACING THE CAR AT A DRAG STRIP!!!!!!!!!!

Your warranty does not cover damage at the track and your auto insurance does not cover you either

 

1) Put the car in 3rd

2) Hold the Traction Control button down for anywhere between 4 and 10 seconds until the D.I.C. reads: COMPETITIVE DRIVING

3) As you approach the starting line, steer around the water box where the drivers with drag radials will do their burnouts. Just go around it and stage your car.

4) To Stage your car at the start line you will slowly pull to the line, turn on one yellow light, then creep up a tiny bit more, turning on that second yellow light. Once they are both lit, you are ready to go.

5) You will have 3 Yellow lights flash down the tree then the Green. Being your first time I'd suggest you leave when you see the 2nd yellow.

The four lights (3 yellow then green) flash ½ second apart.

 

Hopefully you have 3.15 rear end.

You shouldn't have any problems with that setup. Should run low 13s with the 3.15 rear end

But if you do have the 2.73 rear end

You should still be able to run high 13s

Good Luck let us know the out come.

 

Have fun. I went to the track for the first time 2 weeks ago. It's alot of fun.

 

OK by me then. I've got an 00 A4 3.15 and on stock tires ran a 13.1sec/106mph the very first time I was in a sanctioned event, and beat a buddy's 01 M6 5 out of 6 times. I had never drag raced before.

You should do just fine.

Oh. I turned the TC off, too.

 

I'd laugh it off or let someone else do the driving. Dragging is all about timing (unless your car is much faster than the tang)... Based on what you've said - I think he's baiting you. If you've never done any dragging, I think you'll be over your head.. JMHO.. Don't know about the breaking something, but it's very possible... You're going to get people on the forum that will tell you to 'go for it', but they won't be paying for the repair if something goes wrong... If you want to start dragging - I'd start with lone runs, just to see what you can do.. That way, there won't be many suprises...

JCR_Indy

 

Cool! Thanks for all the advice! This is exciting!!

EB20003 - what a great write-up! and thanks for the links!
Glennm27 - are the yellow staging lights different than the yellow lights on the tree? (Y'all don't laugh. I told you I didn't know what I was doing! :o )
Spongevette - mine is a 2.73 rear end.
DanielW - how'd you do for your first time?

 

You should watch others race very closely for a while to get an idea of what you'll need to do. Pay close attention to the starting line routine. It looks simple, and it is, but somehow it's still easy to mess up.

Don't be afraid to ask someone if there's something you don't understand.

The starting line will be the most intense part of your race...

Try as hard as you can to not be late when it's time to leave the line. Your reaction time leaving the line can cost you the race, it makes a bigger difference than you would think. Like others have said, if you wait for the green light, you're late! Go on the last yellow! The lights count down fast, pay attention! Totally focus your mind on the lights as they count down and leave on the last yellow. Just pretend like the last yellow is the green light. If you should happen to red light (leave too early), just wait until the last yellow has been on slightly longer next time before you leave, but don't wait for the green. The starting line is where you can make the most difference in your race. Your friend in the other lane is going to try as hard as he can to beat you off the line without turning on the redlight! Kick his butt!

Leave the line as hard as you can without spinning the tires too much. Spinning the tires hard when leaving the line will slow you down. After you leave the line keep the pedal down, sit back and enjoy the ride and have fun. Be sure you know where the finish line is.

Race as many times as you want. Your car should be fine. In fact it will probably do it some good to blow it out a bit if you drive slow most of the time.

Chances are since he challenged you to race he thinks he can beat you. You can take virtually any car and make it very fast at a drag strip. He probably has more mods than he is letting on, possibly even nitrous. There is a good chance that you might loose, but it's all fun so enjoy yourself even if you loose. Remember, even if you loose, you're still driving home in a Corvette.

There are lots of links online that can help you understand what you need to know. Here's one...

http://www.irwindalespeedway.com/dra...ite/howto.html

 

Get there early and get a couple of runs in before you race your friend. Or delay the race so you can go one night first and race. Try to take someone along that has raced preferably at that strip and have him coach you through a couple of runs. All the advice is good but I would be careful leaving on the second yellow I think you will red light bad even if you are in a partial coma. That is why it would be best to get a few runs in before you have the big race. I bet your friend has been there before and run a few times. Unfortunately corvette drivers are famous for monumental f#$ck ups at drag races. Leaving their tops unlatched, driving through the staging lights, starting in reverse after they back up to reenter the staging lights. I think the main reason for this reputation is people tend to notice more when a vette driver screws up. Once you have raced a few times it is really remarkably simple especially in an A4, but the first time at the strip in any car can be very confusing.

 

Oh, one more thing... do I have to have a helmet to race?

 

Your going to have a real blast!
I've been 1 time. Most fun I've had in years. I have a stock A4 with 3.15. My times were all around 13.8. I was always slow off the line. (saw the green light everytime) If I'm thinking right the .3-.4 seconds I spent on the line made my times higher than most. If you own a helmet take it with you. Under 14 seconds it is required.

Most important rule....STAY OUT OF THE WALL!!
Second most important.... HAVE FUN!!

 

I think that if you are less than 13 seconds, then yes....