Aright guys I am in the process of looking for a Honda to start drag racing with, but I am only 16 and have never taken a car to the track. Can anybody help me out with the drag racing technique? (If there even is one...). Stuff like where to idle the car (RPM wise) at the line before the green, best way to warm up the tires before hand, and where and how to shift once the green light shines... described my question as best I can, so sorry if anyone doesn't understand. Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated... Thanks

 

pull up to the lights slowly.. make sure you are staging with your front tires thats the biggest mistake i see at the track with friends and just new racers.. so go slow.. you might miss the staging (four top small lights) look like this:

oo || oo
oo || oo

when both sets of two on your side of the tree are lit then stop and wait for the three yellows and then the green. thats the only thing i can think of to "help" other than that, practice makes perfect.

 

Should I just wait for the light to turn green to press the gas and have it in first, or should I rev it at the line and when the light turns green, then pop it into first and start that way?

 

Basically it depends on what kind of tree you are running on. If you are on a Pro Tree then after the top staging lights light up, then the three yellow lights below will all turn yellow then switch to green. On a tree like this the best thing to do is to start Reving after you get staged. Once you see the Three Yellows begin your launch. If you wait to see the green then it'll be too late.

On a tree that has the three bottom lights that light up one by one, you basically want to launch the car when you see the 3rd yellow light....

 

Practice makes perfect!!!

 

Anyone else with any input?

 

Take all the extra junk outta your car, spare, tools, text books, parts. Anything you might have. Go to the track with a little over a 1/4 if you got a regular honda. Fuel weighs alot if you have a full tank. Like was said above practice makes perfect.

 

watch other people do it. yeah but the biggest mistake is lining up wrong. either going past the two beams and going right up to the tree. lol. go to your local track on a Grudge Night and watch some people race and line up before you go and race

 

Make sure you have a parent on hand. I am 16 too, I took my blazing naturally aspirated 8:1 D16 powered hatch to the strip and they wouldn't let me run without a parent there to sign a release form.

 

that sucks i was racing when i had my permit.....in my car i launch on the 2nd yellow light......when launching start out at around 2500 and if it boggs then you need to launch higher until your 60' gets about to a 2.2 range and 2.4 is decent for a new racer, and shifting depends on what car you get.

 

ahh just got my license today.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Justin_Bradley &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Should I just wait for the light to turn green to press the gas and have it in first, or should I rev it at the line and when the light turns green, then pop it into first and start that way?</TD></TR></TABLE>

oh is your car an automatic?? i wouldn't leave it in neutral if thats what your asking.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by gents97civ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Go to the track with a little over a 1/4 if you got a regular honda. Fuel weighs alot if you have a full tank.</TD></TR></TABLE>

10 gallon 92 cx tank, full of fuel weighed 60 more pounds than empty.

 

Damn i still havent gotten my license

 

hey justin, im glad to see a new dragger to the scene. for a new guy like yourself, you will most likly start with a 5/10 (five tenths) tree, which means that after the pre-stage and stage lights are one ( the top 4 small ones) the first yellow will turn on then off then the second light and off and the third light and after it goes off on comes the green light and your away, if you leave before the green light comes on the red light will come on and that means your dq'd (disqualifed). the whole goal on the tree is to leave exactly as the green light comes on and if you can do that then your reaction time is gonna be .500 .

As for the revs at the light, thats gonna take some time to figure out. best way to learn is to go to a parking lot and just play till your comfortable. when launching tire spin is bad, save the tire spin for the burnout box. tire spin of the line is just gonna cost you time. so when you messing arond, find the revs when the car doesnt spin but also doesnt bog out.

when is comes to shifting, rule of thumb is "shift when the car stops pulling", but unless you have a rotary enging you will wanna shift near the redline, now remeber that would only be for stock or lightly mod'd cars, if your car is got more then a few bolt on's you will have to decied when to shift yourself

if you have anymore questions about draging plz feel free to email me at b8er@hotmail.com or add me to msn with the same email. hope that helps

 

Which tree has it so r/t does not really effect your 1/4 time, I was reading another post and everyone was saying r/t has nothig to do with 1/4 time. Anyone care to explain ?

 

well there and 4/10 trees and 5/10 trees, on a 5/10 each yellow light goes on and off before the greem and on a 4/10 all three yellow lights go on at the same time then the green, a best reaction on a 4/10 would be .400 and a .500 would be for a 5/10. from what i know and where i have raced both 4 and 5/10 will not start countin gyour et ( elapste time ) untill you move but your reaction time will keep counting till you you break the beams as well. so to awnser your question, both types of tree's wouldnt count your et till you break the beams but as soon as you start moving your rt ( reaction time ) stops and your et begins. hope that isnt to confusing

 

okay I have a question too. stupid but it's been driving me nuts all day and night for that matter. today is gonna be my first day running(if it does't rain!) and I Know in my head that your supposed to start your launch when the 3rd light turns on or somepeople do it inbeetween the 2 lights 2nd and 3rd. but I'm just wondering where the beam is that starts your reaction time? like is it up the track just a little bit after the staging lights? I just don't wanna get out there and go red all the time.(I'll probably do it anyway) but wouldn't mind doin ALright my first time to the track.

 

ok you will see the tree and then two small boxes on the ground before it...in the middle.....if your worried about redlight go when the 3rd light lights up.

 

I see your in richmond, what track will you be hitting up?

Well ok here we go:
There will be 2 lights which tell you if your front and back tires are lined up, they will light up if both are lined up. When doing this Try to keep the RPMs steady when doing this cause as soon as you line this up a couple seconds later the lights will be going down til it hits green. Dont worry about your Reaction time, it has nothin to do with your actual time. And when it goes green it doesnt mean that the clock has started either. Just keep steady dont be scared(it always is the first time out) Also make sure to lower your Tire pressure around 20lbs. Play around and see what helps you cut those 2.2 or 2.1 60fts that everyone aims for on your average street tires. Also when launcing go easy on the clutch, dont pop it out as this is a no no which can cause you to break axles and feel really shitty. Its about slowly letting the clutch out while modulating the gas and keeping the RPMs steady so you dont bog. Once you catch traction and dont feel your tires skidding out trying to catch traction fully let out the clutch and just push the throttle pedal to the metal.

Good luck and have fun at the track.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">pull up to the lights slowly.. make sure you are staging with your front tires thats the biggest mistake i see at the track with friends and just new racers.. so go slow.. you might miss the staging (four top small lights) look like this:

oo || oo
oo || oo

when both sets of two on your side of the tree are lit then stop and wait for the three yellows and then the green. thats the only thing i can think of to "help" other than that, practice makes perfect.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Step 1- Staging ^
Step 2- Car in 1st
Step 3- hold down clutch
Step 4- hold your revs at the appropriate RPM
Step 5- When you see green, let go of the clutch and push the gas!
if your having traction problem (ie not enougth traction) then ease off the gas a little

Its not rocket science!

But to become a good driver you must first understand as much as possible if not everything about your car, mechanicaly, how it works and so on...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b8er &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well there and 4/10 trees and 5/10 trees, on a 5/10 each yellow light goes on and off before the greem and on a 4/10 all three yellow lights go on at the same time then the green, a best reaction on a 4/10 would be .400 and a .500 would be for a 5/10. from what i know and where i have raced both 4 and 5/10 will not start countin gyour et ( elapste time ) untill you move but your reaction time will keep counting till you you break the beams as well. so to awnser your question, both types of tree's wouldnt count your et till you break the beams but as soon as you start moving your rt ( reaction time ) stops and your et begins. hope that isnt to confusing</TD></TR></TABLE>

So r/t really plays a role in who your racing ( get a better r/t and you will most likely win if cars are even ) , it really does not effect your e/t

 

that sumerizes what i was tring to say

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by forkpoke &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Make sure you have a parent on hand. I am 16 too, I took my blazing naturally aspirated 8:1 D16 powered hatch to the strip and they wouldn't let me run without a parent there to sign a release form.</TD></TR></TABLE>

do you mean 8.0:1 compression?how the **** did you do that?