Went to the drag strip today

[NX EXA]

I went to the nearest drag strip today, wasn't all that bad. Not very many cars and I think that is due to the track only being 1/8 mile. There were a few imports there. I'm thinking of going to the next set they have in 2 weeks. I have never dragged before so I was hoping to get a few tips or pointers. I will have my little bro video tape some of the races then find someone that knows how to put them on the computer.


GIVE ME SOME TIPS!!

I hope to do good and don't break anything.

[DEVILsEXA]

hahaha shit am i tha fool! i fully thought u were Mr. Drag!!!

I mean looking at ur signature geeze~!

BAH to u!

:devilburn :madfinger :3finger:

[boostinhard]

Hey,
1/8th mile should suit you more than the V8's and bigger hp cars. Your launch is everything in such a short distance and you should be looking for times of 10 seconds or under as this equivialates to a 15 second quarter... Good luck!
Sam

[Lowrida]

rev her to 2-3 grand and let her rip......hit all the gears fast and dont miss. Thats all you can do. As little wheel spin as possible and the rest is shifting right. Thats pretty much it.

[Blood]

should have gone down the drag strip anyhow...

just to try it out... and to see what times u get

[neol5s]

Double clutching always helps too.

[DEVILsEXA]

You double clutch when going down gears or cornering or on a non-constant track!!!

When ur 'dragging' u want to get into gear as fukin quick as u can!

If u've been driving your car for a while u'll find that u know where the 'sweet spot' is... u should be able to just TOUCH tha clutch and change gears especially with an exa gear box... maybe just touching tha gas all tha way thru ur change to ensure tha revs stay high and u get that lil 'kick' when u get into gear!

But i must give u 5kudos for trying... as double clutching is a sure fine way of not missing a gear...
Ever get that problem of not being able to get into reverse and i need to let tha clutch out and back in again... or u cant quite get into first well thats when u 'double clutch'!

Craig.

[GPexa]

it's actually called double de-clutching ;)

[NX EXA]

LOL, sorry Craig, I know looks can be deceiving but yeah...I've never dragged before.

So what's this 'double clutching' stuff? How would I go about doing it?

[Lowrida]

you dont need to know, it wont help you so much that it will cause a noticable difference and it screws your clutch.

[NX EXA]

Hmm, clutch problems from this. That's all I needed to know. Guess I won't be double clutching.

[Mervic]

I would play around with your suspension since you have coilovers and with your tire pressure to get the maximum grip without too much wheelspin. I would also replace your rims with the stock since it is probably lighter than your 16's. Just make sure you have good tires with your stock wheels.

[GPexa]

DOUBLE DE- CLUTCHING!!!!

but yeah, it's only really useful on downchanges when you need to accelerate, it keeps the revs at the right point to hit the power quickly on the lower gear....not useful at all in drag racing....

[neol5s]

Only poms call it double de-clutching, lol.

[DEVILsEXA]

OI what u saying about POMES???

ggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

:mad: :flamedevi :madfinger

[NX EXA]

I still have my stock rims with roughly 90% tread left. I will see which ones are lighter. I guess I will switch to the regular hatch seeing as I think it would be lighter than the Sportbak (all that glass). How should I do the suspension? Lower it?

[Mervic]

You can adjust the back higher than the front to compensate for the hard launch (weight transfer from front to back). I will also remove anything unnecessary (spare tire, jack, audio system in the hatch, etc.) to lighten the car. Also, fill the gas tank halfway, so it will not be to heavy, with the highest octane you can buy. Last but not least is to note (bring a small notebook or something) all the things you have done good or bad or no effect, so that next time your at the track you know exactly what to do.
BTW when you are waiting for the christmas tree to turn green, you do not wait for the green and launch, coz our eyes and hand reaction is not as fast as the lights change. You have to anticipate for the last amber then you launch so that when the green light come on you basically starts to move, but not red lighting. Hope this helps.

[boostinhard]

Hey,
good points mervic... Allthough, remember that your time has nothing to do with the light you cut... I get heaps of guys telling me how there "VL commodore" ran a 14sec pass, but he sat at the lights for 4 seconds so its a 10 second car. lol - the timmer doesnt start till you move. Which is good and bad as in handicap racing you can get a big advantage on the other racer just by cutting an awesome light, plus you'll have more room up your sleeve to not "breakout"
Sam

[NX EXA]

I have kinda learned the light by watching others. I would hear the rivs kick up just before the green light. I also noticed that the time starts when you move. I am moving out everything that is loose in the car or can do without it. The sub box was going to be the first thing. I wonder if they will let me race without my tops. :dapimp I'm just hoping to have a good run without stalling at the start. I'm actually a little excited about it :bounce:

[Mervic]

My suggestions are for beating the other guy on the next lane. There is a form of drag racing were you do not actually have to beat the car on the next lane, it is called bracket racing. Important thing is you gonna have heaps of fun and gain a lot of experience.

[boostinhard]

Hey,

There is a form of drag racing were you do not actually have to beat the car on the next lane, it is called bracket racing.
okay - this is not true. You do have to beat the guy in the other lane, there is just more to bracket racing than getting to the other end first. Trust me I know,
Sam

[DEVILsEXA]

Yeh well tell us about it then!

huh huh

[Lowrida]

bracket is usually for 1/8 miles and such. It is not just who gets to the other end faster. There is one type of bracket that is handicaped for the slower car which is judged on by who gets to the end first. The type boost is talking about is where you might take 1 or 2 practice runs and see what the times are, you can either average them or take a pick between the times. You have to get as close to that time as possible without breaking out. Thus this is a big handicap against a car with alot more HP. Got it?

Example:

Skyline R34 vs. Pulsar XE (12 valve)
>
Skyline runs best 1/8 time of 6 secs. He chooses this time.
Pulsar runs best 1/8 time of 13 secs. He chooses this time.
>
Skyline runs a 6.9 secs
Pulsar runs a 13.3 secs

PULSAR WINS! Yay! :madshake:

[boostinhard]

Hey,
Hmmm okay I will! WARNING - LONG POST!!! Now you know why I didnt just say it all first time!

Okay - first thing first. to win Bracket racing (or sportsman Drag racing, same thing) you do not need the fastest vehicle. you need the most consistant vehicle and great driver skills. Infact a slower car will often be more of an advantage as you have less things that will cost you consistancy - Ie, you'll get good traction every run, your motor isn't so colse to the egde so it should be pretty repetitive etc. Plus this type of racing is not only accociated wiht 1/8th mile racing, in America your probably just used to seeing NHRA on 1/4 mile tracks which is PRO racing only - but bracket racing is very, very common on Australian 1/4's and 1/8th's.....

Basic rundown - As lowrider said, you have a few "Qualifing Runs" or "Time Trials" in which you get to see what times your vehicle is running on the given day. this by no means is teh time you will be handicappe to during racing, its just to give you a better estimate of what your car will do so you can state a time in racing. Once you've completed qualifiing you'll get to give a "Dial In" which is a time thast you state that you think your car will get close to, but not go faster than. (Ie if you ran 12.26, 12.27, 12.29, 12.26 - you'd dial in with a 12.25 or a 12.20 to be safe) This time will set teh "handicap" for whoever your opponent is. Just say you dial'd in with a 12.20 and they dialled in with a 12.00 - you will get 0.20 seconds headstart. Your side of the lights will actually come down two tenths of a second earlier than theirs. Great you say, why not just say your car will go 30 seconds so you get a huge head start? Well, you cant actually go quicker than your dial in, thats an instant loss. For example, I have dialled in at 9.35, cut a great light, ran cleanly all the way down the track, got to the other end first with a 9.34 - and lost. thats what they call a "breakout" and happens a bit in bracket racing. If both cars "breakout" whoever broke out by the most looses.

In this type of drag racing - there are heaps of ways to loose the race, only one way to win it. I'll start with ways of loosing: My favorite way to loose (I seem to do it all the time!!!) is by red-lighting. This means you leave before the green light comes on. The green light takes 0.4 seconds to light up and this is the best reacion time you can get. if you leave with a 0.395 -you have left befoer teh green light is on and have lost before the race has even begun! And believe me, I have lost my last few races by leaving less than 3 thousandths of a second too early ( < 0.003 !!!) and that really hurts! Why leave so close to the green? Becasue its a way of getting an advantage on the other competitor. your time does not begin until oyu move and if you move half a second before the other guy -you jsut got half a second up your sleev. Ie you dial in at 10 seconds. he dials in at 9 seconds. You got a 0.40 light, he cuts a 0.90 light. Even if he runs exactly on his dial in, you can still run up to 0.5 seconds off yours and win! When you get to semi-professional levels of racing where the vehicle is so god damn consistant, the racing is pretty much on and lost at the start line every time...

Other ways of loosing are: Crossing the center line (the line that seperates the two lanes), breaking out (we just talked about that), touching the outside line, breaking something, taking too long to go into stage (15 seconds once the other guy is reaad to go is the rule in Australia - I like to use as much of that as I can to psych the other guy out as much as possible, it takes there mind off the run and gets them thinking about how long Im taking to get into stage!!! lol) and just plai getting beaten. If your going to loose, thats the best way to loose - cos its usually very tight at the finish, with them crossing the line like a hundredth of a second before you - no-one can tell who has one untill the computer flashes the lights on one side of the track!

The only way to win is to: Dial in accurately, cut a good light, run cleanly, not breakout, and hope that you did all this better than the other guy! And to win a whole meeting you have to do this around 5 times in a row! (As soon as you loose once in drag racing, your out. No second chances.) I have driven 22 hours to Queensland to red light first round by 2 thousandth's of a second (0.002!) to have to go and pack up and go home. Its harsh, but thats why bracket racing is classed the hardest form of drag racing around.

I spoke earlier of having an advantage of being slower, but what about being faster? well there is a fe advantageous here too. Firstly if your faster, the other guy has to go first - this measn tehy have the oppotunity of red lighting befoer you handing you the win. (even if they red light by the tinniest amount and you red light by heaps, it doesnt matter, the FIRST person to red light looses) And even if you both get off the line with a green light, its allwyas easier to chase than to try and look over your shoulder. there have been lots of times where the slower vehicel backs off too much at the top end (trying not to brake out) and have had the quicker car fly past them to take the win (its much easier to do than you would think, the quicker cars obviously have a much higher mph and come past quicker than you can tell. Plus if your chasing and you catch up to them like at half track, you know you can shut it off early as there is no chance they will be catching you!

Well, thats a brief explanation of Bracket drag racing (yes, it was actually very brief!!!) If you'd like to see more or even give it a shot, please check out this (http://www.nissanexa.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=515) thread to see how you can race... And win CASH!!! lol
Sam :D

[wwiifanatic]

When my brother drags his Volvo turbo station wagon, he has a reaction time of bewteen .5 and .6. I'm serious, he has an excellent reaction time. Truth is, he goes before the light is green, and DOES NOT get redlighted. He just said "When the 2nd to the last light comes on, just go, because the light will be green by the time your car passes the laser." I've seen him do a 17.4 in his Volvo Wagon.