| How to Drag Race Better |
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Someone have read This in a Car Craft mag. The article talked about launching at the track on street radials.
First off, the old myth that lowering you tire pressure will give you a wider contact patch of tread on the ground is not always true. If the tire pressure is too low then the tread can cup and actually bring the center of the tread off of the ground. You should lay a nice smokey burnout (in a parking lot or somewhere open) and then observe the marks left behind. If they are darkest on the edges then you could use a little more air. If the middle is darker then you should let some air out. You will have the correct air pressure when you see an even black mark.
Now that you are ready to drag, when staging up, it is best to avoid the water box by driving around it. If you spin through it then water can get in the treads and effect the launch. Then as you approach the line just spin the tires a little bit to clean them off. Street tires are rated on their ability to disapate heat and a long smokey burnout will not cause them to hold in more heat, but will only cause you to waste 1000's of miles of good rubber. Now that you are staged up and ready to launch, in an auto, you should hold the brake with the left foot and then bring up the rpms with the right foot just until the tires start to spin. Back it down to where the tires are holding and keep the rpms right there. Then on the final yellow light release the brake and hit the throttle. This should produce a good reaction time and an even better launch.
In a manual car you should bring the rpms up to 2000 and hold it. When the last yellow lights up, dump the clutch but don't hit the gas. This will cause the car to bog forward. Bogging isn't the best, but it is better than spinning the tires. The front end will leap up in the air and then come back down. Right as it starts coming back down you should hit the throttle. This is the best way to get moving on street tires, but takes some practice. If you dump the clutch and nail it you will most likely be wasting your time spinning.
In regards to the previous advice about POWER shifting. I would advice those of you who do This to have a tranny rebuild fund waiting for you. It is VERY easy to miss gears while doing This and it is extremely hard on the tranny. However, if some of you are diehard about e.t.'s....if done correctly, it will drop a significant amount. (up to .3). Just thought I'd warn you.
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