Whats up guys? Just curious what your thoughts are on automatic cars coming to the track and bracket racing. Do you think its a fair match up? Isn't racing about actually driving the car? Launching it, shifting it, being consistant, etc?? What talent does it take to press the gas pedal and be done? Gonna be about as perfect as possible if you ask me.

What do you guys think?

 

I'm kinda mixed about it. I mean most of the V8 guys run auto's in brackets but at least they are race cars!

at most of the sport compact events, you get the run of the mill, out with mom's camry crowd. Nothing worse than watching some guy run brackets with 18 sec dial in

 

down here, a guy in his auto 07ish accord OWNS et-1 bracket

 

When I use to bracket race I would beat a ton of automatics. When Teamxxxrob backet races he has no problem beating the auto cars. Run your own race and don't worry about what the other person is running. If you have your car dialed in and can cut a light and run close to your number without breaking out it shouldn't matter if it is auto or manual. Now if you start throwing in delay boxes and throttle stops then that is a little harder.

 

i dunno, doesn't bother me. points leader at my track in Sport Compact drives a VW Golf stick, he is also #2 in the Sportsman class against auto trans cars.

 

all ya gotta do is get them out of the hole and you win....I personally dislike them unless its a actual race car not a 14 sec turd but ive actually had so good luck against autos I catch them sleeping at the tree all the time.

 

Most bracket cars are automatic, it's a fact of life. You may have one or two guy's here or there that can shift a manual tranny, but I'm sure most of you realize 90+% of the bracket cars are automatics. They do that for a reason.

And it's not because that's what there's mommy's drove.

 

My opinion may be different because I am a female in a male dominated sport but, here is my 2 cents if anyone cares. I have raced a shifted car,an auto car, a 9 second car and a 13 second car, heads up and brackets, so I have a well rounded experiance to base my opinion on. First off, everyone has the choice of what they want to race. If you choose a shifted over an auto then that's your perogative. Everyone uses every advantage that they can to win, that's what building a race car and racing is all about. What one person sees as an advantage another my see as a disadvantage. That is why we have so many setups and combinations in our sport. Secondly, just because my present car is an auto doesn't mean that I don't manually shift it, stage it, launch it, and dial it in just as a shifted car has to. And thirdly, if you run your race it makes not a difference in the world what is lined up next to you. I can tell you that the last thing that should be on your mind when bracket racing is if your lost to an auto car. Maybe you should think about what you can to better next time to beat that auto car.

 

its a legal advantage. you can beat em or you can be like lebron and join em lol. with enough practice you can be just as consistent off the line and at the stripe as the auto guys. its all about knowing your vehicle.
-Roger

 

autos are meant for brackets...

 

I think autos are fair but I like how Jason Miller did it at WCF I believe...He had two bracket classes. One was for stick and one was for autos...doesn't matter what time they run.

 

^^ case closed!!

I agree!!


But i think the OP ment for farily stock (if not allll sotck) veryy mild HP Auto car. No worry about having to shift/miss shift, tire spin, etc.

But does this mean that a kid with his mom's car should be OUTLAW? The answer is NO!

I personally LOVE heads up racing! But when i used to bracket race there were a lot of Auto cars that were not making the cut, for the simple fact that they were sleeping on the tree. But there were the one or 2 guys/girls that were Lumberjacks in their sub 15 sec Auto cars WINNING ALLLL THE EVENTS!!

 

I race brackets all the time at my local track. Just as toubaby2 said run your own race because once the other guy/girl gets in your head the race may as well be over. Now when these *** holes take there bone stock auto DD that runs 19.29 every time hot or cold and race brackets is BS! Imo of coarse. One year this guy had a professionally made sticker for his dail in and one almost every race!

 

you pay your money knowing im bringing my 2009 ford f350 that runs 8:90 in the 1/8th and its bone stock lol.

you pay your money just to lose oh well not my problem lol.

but for real bracket racing isnt about fender to fender racing at all it is about knowing your vehicle, and time. I think its funny to go out and beat the ac's/honda's with a full sized truck its kinda cool to me.

 

personally i used to drive an auto and to be competitive you cant just let it shift for you or else youre just gonna rev til u get valve float (at least i would with my accord). but you have to double tap the gas to get it to shift after 2nd gear and you have to shift it manually for first and second or else youre going to be significantly slower.

Yes it doesnt take as much skill as a manual but it isnt just a walk in the park. plus a lot of automatic transmissions are made of paper mache and broken dreams so they break constantly

 

bracket racing is all about knowing your own car (auto or manual), knowing how to cut a light and learning some tricks along the way. If i were to build a "bracket" car it would def be automatic... less human error involved. a lot more goes into winning bracket races then just having an automatic... a lot has to do with knowing how your car reacts in different weather and track conditions.

 

case in point, this weekend i took alot of test passes to figure a consistent launch and et. second round i got lined up with a tough racer (tight dial, automatic, deep stager). i felt comfortable enough to push the tree and i did a .026 to his .081 RT. i was positive i was going around him at the stripe but the car didnt run the number. even with the slight advantage on the line my 16.405 on a 16.20 dial wasnt good enough for his 19.025 on a 18.95 dial.

basically with some more practice and getting the car ET a consistent number i couldve beat him.
-Roger

 

I bracket raced once with an automatic car (a 1995 Honda Civic DX), and was less consistent with it than my manual, GSR swapped hatch of the time. I had a spread of .3-.4 in the 1/8th with the auto. I had the hatch running within .1 each run. FML. :p

To each his own. Everyone is more than welcome to race with an automatic. It's my preference to use the manual with clutch, as I feel it's a bit more pure of a driving experience - and I enjoy knowing I can rebuild my own trans (I got nothing for an automatic). Bitch, adapt, or get on with the program is what it amounts to. Pick one.