Just read the NHRA rules and this seems to be legal as long as you write "deep"
on your window. Just how would you do this with the Auto Start system?

Any idea just how much this changes your reaction time??

Steve

 

It will not affect the autostart in anyway unless you tripped the staged bulb which would cause you to red light. Tripping the pre-stage bulb will not cause it to red light, but it freaks out the person you are racing unless he knows what to look for.

Deep staging decreased you RT and your ET and final trap speeds will be decreased. You kinda have to have practice on what your tires roll out is. I try to be on the edge of pre-stage so I wont deep stage. Its a good practice to know how far you can go with your roll out of your tires.

 

Deep staging helps to get a quicker RT (hopefully if you don't red light) but your ET suffers

 

I don't think I need to worry too much about redlighting with this car, it leaves
SO slowly then wakes up about 20 feet into the run. Good for traction but bad
for RA's.

Wondering how much of a trade off there is on RA vs. ET, one way to find out

I thought the Auto Start gave you 10 sec to stage after the prestage lights are lit.
Will I have time to deep stage? Or am I wrong on the way AS works??

Steve

 

can someone just explain the what deep staging means? and while were at it, do the same for shallow staging! TIA, i get lost when these terms get thrown around

 

Deep staging is when you turn both stage lights on then move forward enough to turn the 1st lite or prestage lite off. Shallow staging is when you turn the first bulb on then barely roll into the 2nd lite enough to turn it on. SHallow stage helps et hurts RT. Deep stage helps RT but hurts ET. I have seen cars deep stage & lose up to a tenth in ET.

 

we used to do this all the time in our automatic CRX because it sure as hell was not going to leave as quick as we needed it to

its basically a risk every time you go to the line though; you have to practice just how far to go in. It is an advantage you are trying to take, so you just have to plow in after you are both pre-staged and hope your competitor takes enough time for you to get set.

How much it changes depends on your car and you, but we typically saw ~.2

 

shallow staging gives you about an extra foot of roll out before you tripp the beams if you watch nhra powerarde qualifing alot of the pro guys do it they will stage the car till the stage light flicker on. nice little trick to know when trying to qualify for a race

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RacerStev &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Wondering how much of a trade off there is on RA vs. ET, one way to find out
</TD></TR></TABLE>

You would deep stage in eliminations but not in qualifying.. the goal is to get to the finish line first.

 

I stage shallow in all qualifying and night races. Remember, your reaction times will get better in the night. If you cant get your reaction times where you want them, go a little deeper but sacrifice some ET. If there is one lane better then the other, it is wise to watch your possible next round competitor and see what he runs, if you need that extra ET for lane choice, stage shallow.

 

Writing "deep" on the window only applies in a non-auto start situation. With a manual start, the starter knows to allow you to turn off the top bulb before throwing the switch. With autostart, once the tree sees 4 lights, it drops according to what is preset in the computer. That's why deep staging is not allowed (aka with "deep" on the window) in any POWERade classes. They are all on autostart.

At NHRA sport compact events, auto start must "see" each stage light for .6 second to recognize it. This allows for some flickering while you bump in. Once it "sees" 4 lights for .6 second, it counts another .4 second then drops. (There's a random range in there, can't tell you exactly what it is.)

So...........you can deep stage if you can make it happen before the tree drops. Won't get disqualified for turning out the top bulb, but the starter won't acknowledge your "deep" on the window and let you roll in. It's all automatic and out of his control with autostart.

 

Thanks Jim.

 

Good info Jim.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 4piston &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Good info Jim.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

I don't like the "if" factor here. On to plan B, the brakes. Would 2 calipers per
wheel be legal, I need some clamping force!

Steve

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jdkindle &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
its basically a risk every time you go to the line though; you have to practice just how far to go in. It is an advantage you are trying to take, so you just have to plow in after you are both pre-staged and hope your competitor takes enough time for you to get set.

How much it changes depends on your car and you, but we typically saw ~.2</TD></TR></TABLE>

Gonna play with this next time out, man .2 is just what I'm looking for!

Steve

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RacerStev &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I thought the Auto Start gave you 10 sec to stage after the prestage lights are lit.
Will I have time to deep stage? Or am I wrong on the way AS works??

Steve</TD></TR></TABLE>

auto start dosnt activate till 3 lights are lit. then it gives you 7 seconds to turn the 4th light.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RacerStev &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I don't like the "if" factor here. On to plan B, the brakes. Would 2 calipers per
wheel be legal, I need some clamping force!

Steve </TD></TR></TABLE>

What about a trans brake???

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BoostingSnail &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

What about a trans brake???</TD></TR></TABLE>
Illegal in our class..

 

A trans brake would cure all the problems I'm haveing, but like you say it's
not legal. This is one area were all the series are in agreement.

Steve

 

if they allowed trans-brakes, that would open up alot of very exciting doors and make for better quality racing