BOMI
21-10-2006, 05:43 PM
Drag racing, the 1/4 mile, 400 odd metres of tarmac and 10 to 15 seconds of adrenalin.
For many, putting your street car into a street meet or test n tune event is daunting, but it need not be. All you need is just a little bit of knowledge, which we will try to pass on now.
The quarter mile is the yard stick by which many many cars performance is measured. So when it comes to testing out you and your cars ability’s the quarter is great fun and easy.
First things first, your car & pre race prep before you leave for the track.
If you drive a new car you shouldn’t have to do much other then turn up, get scrutineered and then race, but you should still check a few things.
1. Check your engine oil level. If you are close to a service interval then I personally wouldn’t go to the track until I had an oil change. Your engine oil level should be at the full mark on the dipstick or very close. Running 500ml more oil than is recommended will help to eliminate oil surge issues created by oil running to the rear of the sump when under hard acceleration. An oil change costs all of $100 if you can DIY, which is really cheap insurance when you consider the cost of a replacement motor.
2. Check your coolant level, your car will get hot waiting in the staging lanes (Ill explain them later), if it is low then top it up with the same type of coolant that the manufacturer recommends.
3. If you drive an automatic then check the transmission fluid level & as above if its low then top up with the recommended fluid.
4. Tyres, if you have bugger all tread left on your tyres then chances are when you have done 4 or 5 passes on the 1/4 mile you will have little to no tread to get home with legally & more importantly safely. Burnouts will be covered later.
5. Tyre pressures: There is some conjecture over what is the "best" tyre pressure to run your rear tyres at. This will also vary depending on whether you are using day to day street tyres or purpose built track tyres such as semi-competition's or Mickey Thompson street radials. As most 1st timers tend to run on their daily used street tyres, as small drop in air pressure to around 20-22psi can help improve traction away from the start line thus increasing the size of the tyres contact patch or the tyre footprint that has contact with the track at launch.
Ok, now you have checked your car over with the basics you can now leave for the track. Before you leave make sure you have your helmet. We have seen many a frustrated racer at the track who has, in the rush to check his or her car, forgotten their helmet. Your helmet should be in good nick with the ADR sticker intact on the back of the helmet. The liner / chin strap must be in good condition.
Whilst you are grabbing your helmet make sure you are wearing enclosed shoes and a long sleeve shirt or jacket as you need these to race.
Now you can leave for the track!!
Once at the track and paid up you should go and register or sign in. Once you have done this you need to get your car scrutineered. For new cars this takes about 1 minute. The scrutineer will get you to pop your bonnet, where he or she will check the security of your battery and make sure that you have no dodgy duct tape type home mods. They will then check your helmet, enclosed shoes and long sleeves, put a sticker on your windscreen as well as a staging lane number. This number is the lane that you must stage in all day. That’s it, your ready to line up in the staging lanes.
Now tracks differ slightly but there are generally 4 to 6 staging lanes to line different classes of cars and bikes up in.
So move into your staging lane and wait, pop your bonnet to help cool the engine. A cooler engine helps the cars PCM (computer) to let the car make more power safely. Leave your bonnet up until the last moment, about 3 cars left in front of you, to get maximum air flow and cooling of the engine.
The cars start moving forward and you hear the people in front of you doing burnouts and then launching down the 1/4, your heart pounds with adrenalin and you get a little nervous. There is nothing to worry about. Your just about to spin your tyres at over 140 km/h in a burnout and then launch your car down 400 meters of tarmac at 160kmh plus. Its great fun!
You have now moved to the first place in the staging lane and the marshal in charge of the lane has ticked a mark on your windscreen sticker and told you to move either to the left or right side or the track, the side you will race on. From here you will move forward to a staging box, marked on the ground with white paint. The car in front of you will be doing its pre launch burnout. Once it has done this it will get called forward to the start line. They will launch & the next marshal, the burnout marshal, will call you forward for your burnout.
Now comes your turn, you are 40 seconds from your first run down the 1/4 mile.
Stress less! The marshal will call you and the car in the opposite lane forward & guide you onto a spot on the burnout line where there is a water patch to do your burnout in. The water allows easy loss of traction and helps protect your diff & axles. If you have traction control turn it off as this will make for an embarrassing result, trust us, some of us have been there. If you are an Auto driver leave your foot on the brake & look for the marshals signal to tell you to commence your burnout.
When he or she gives you the signal to start your burnout, Auto drivers, place your left foot on the brake & place your right foot to the floor on the accelerator. Your rear wheels will begin to spin, now take your left foot off the brake slowly & let the car move forward. Manual drivers, give your car about 3500 RPM and pop the clutch. Looking in your side view mirror you should see smoke from your tyres. Now on street tyres you don’t want to do a big burn out, just enough to clear the water off your tyres. However if you like a good smoke show & have new tyres waiting at home then go for it, smoke em’ up, the crowd will love it. As soon as you see smoke you should back right off & drive forward slowly to the start line.
http://trackchat.com.au/media/data/500/smokin_ET_s1.jpg
Click here to see a pre launch burnout in a Automatic (Small 850 KB)
http://www.trackchat.com.au/media/data/500/SS_at_WSID_1.AVI
Now this is where you must be diligent as when you approach the start line you will see the Christmas tree.
It has two white lights on top. These are the staging lights. As you move forward to the white line on the track the first white light will come on this means you are now pre staged, move forward very slowly until the second light comes on. This indicates that you are staged at the start line in what’s known as a shallow stage. If you move forward again the first white light will go out this indicates that you are now deep staged & very close to going over the start line and have to reverse up and stage again.
http://trackchat.com.au/media/data/500/tree.jpg
All sounds complicated, nahhhh, just shallow stage every time & you’ll have no worries. That’s what we always do. Now that you are staged you just have to wait for the car in the lane next to you to stage. Once you are both ready there will generally be a 3 to 5 second pause & the marshal controlling the launch will initiate the Christmas tree & off you go.
Lets have a look at the Christmas tree.
The tree consists of the staging lights as previously mentioned.
Next are 3 amber lights, they are the first to light up and are .4 of a second apart, then we have the green light and lastly the red light. If you leave before the green light the red will appear and you have automatically lost the race. However the timer still starts when you car leaves the start line and your time will be accurate for the ? mile.
NOTE As you get more experienced you will learn that you can actually launch on the last amber light with out red lighting. This is due to your RT (Reaction Time) & the time it takes for your car to move forward and start the timer.
http://trackchat.com.au/media/data/500/FD.jpg http://www.trackchat.com.au/media/data/500/medium/Launch_street_T_Cool.jpg
Now that you have seen the green, it's time to floor it. There are different ways to launch for each type of transmission, the best way to start is launching just like you are at traffic lights and in a hurry to get somewhere, obeying the speed limit of course. Keep your car straight down the track. Keep an eye on the car in the other lane if they are in front of you, you don't want to just stare straight down the track with tunnel vision, why? Well if the other car has a mechanical failure or gets out of shape they could end up on your side of the track and KAPOW!! So keep an eye out, if the other car gets loose back off & brake. Not to freak you out but some cars do get loose & hit the wall on the 1/4 mile so better to be safe then sorry. Now as you rocket down the track and cross the finish line back off and gently brake, go back a gear or two and brake a little harder, by this time you are at the end of the track and will be going slow enough to make a right turn onto the return road. Before you turn make sure that you are not going to turn into the car next to you. Different tracks have different rules for which lane has right of way but generally it’s the inside lane to the turn.
Make your way back up the return road obeying the speed limit. You will go back past the start line but well out of the way of it. From there you will pass a point where you will get your time slip that has your ET (Elapsed Time) on it as well as a whole host of other times. We will look at that in another thread.
So there you go, you have just had your first taste of drag racing, be careful its very addictive & great fun.
Regards
The Track Chat team
For many, putting your street car into a street meet or test n tune event is daunting, but it need not be. All you need is just a little bit of knowledge, which we will try to pass on now.
The quarter mile is the yard stick by which many many cars performance is measured. So when it comes to testing out you and your cars ability’s the quarter is great fun and easy.
First things first, your car & pre race prep before you leave for the track.
If you drive a new car you shouldn’t have to do much other then turn up, get scrutineered and then race, but you should still check a few things.
1. Check your engine oil level. If you are close to a service interval then I personally wouldn’t go to the track until I had an oil change. Your engine oil level should be at the full mark on the dipstick or very close. Running 500ml more oil than is recommended will help to eliminate oil surge issues created by oil running to the rear of the sump when under hard acceleration. An oil change costs all of $100 if you can DIY, which is really cheap insurance when you consider the cost of a replacement motor.
2. Check your coolant level, your car will get hot waiting in the staging lanes (Ill explain them later), if it is low then top it up with the same type of coolant that the manufacturer recommends.
3. If you drive an automatic then check the transmission fluid level & as above if its low then top up with the recommended fluid.
4. Tyres, if you have bugger all tread left on your tyres then chances are when you have done 4 or 5 passes on the 1/4 mile you will have little to no tread to get home with legally & more importantly safely. Burnouts will be covered later.
5. Tyre pressures: There is some conjecture over what is the "best" tyre pressure to run your rear tyres at. This will also vary depending on whether you are using day to day street tyres or purpose built track tyres such as semi-competition's or Mickey Thompson street radials. As most 1st timers tend to run on their daily used street tyres, as small drop in air pressure to around 20-22psi can help improve traction away from the start line thus increasing the size of the tyres contact patch or the tyre footprint that has contact with the track at launch.
Ok, now you have checked your car over with the basics you can now leave for the track. Before you leave make sure you have your helmet. We have seen many a frustrated racer at the track who has, in the rush to check his or her car, forgotten their helmet. Your helmet should be in good nick with the ADR sticker intact on the back of the helmet. The liner / chin strap must be in good condition.
Whilst you are grabbing your helmet make sure you are wearing enclosed shoes and a long sleeve shirt or jacket as you need these to race.
Now you can leave for the track!!
Once at the track and paid up you should go and register or sign in. Once you have done this you need to get your car scrutineered. For new cars this takes about 1 minute. The scrutineer will get you to pop your bonnet, where he or she will check the security of your battery and make sure that you have no dodgy duct tape type home mods. They will then check your helmet, enclosed shoes and long sleeves, put a sticker on your windscreen as well as a staging lane number. This number is the lane that you must stage in all day. That’s it, your ready to line up in the staging lanes.
Now tracks differ slightly but there are generally 4 to 6 staging lanes to line different classes of cars and bikes up in.
So move into your staging lane and wait, pop your bonnet to help cool the engine. A cooler engine helps the cars PCM (computer) to let the car make more power safely. Leave your bonnet up until the last moment, about 3 cars left in front of you, to get maximum air flow and cooling of the engine.
The cars start moving forward and you hear the people in front of you doing burnouts and then launching down the 1/4, your heart pounds with adrenalin and you get a little nervous. There is nothing to worry about. Your just about to spin your tyres at over 140 km/h in a burnout and then launch your car down 400 meters of tarmac at 160kmh plus. Its great fun!
You have now moved to the first place in the staging lane and the marshal in charge of the lane has ticked a mark on your windscreen sticker and told you to move either to the left or right side or the track, the side you will race on. From here you will move forward to a staging box, marked on the ground with white paint. The car in front of you will be doing its pre launch burnout. Once it has done this it will get called forward to the start line. They will launch & the next marshal, the burnout marshal, will call you forward for your burnout.
Now comes your turn, you are 40 seconds from your first run down the 1/4 mile.
Stress less! The marshal will call you and the car in the opposite lane forward & guide you onto a spot on the burnout line where there is a water patch to do your burnout in. The water allows easy loss of traction and helps protect your diff & axles. If you have traction control turn it off as this will make for an embarrassing result, trust us, some of us have been there. If you are an Auto driver leave your foot on the brake & look for the marshals signal to tell you to commence your burnout.
When he or she gives you the signal to start your burnout, Auto drivers, place your left foot on the brake & place your right foot to the floor on the accelerator. Your rear wheels will begin to spin, now take your left foot off the brake slowly & let the car move forward. Manual drivers, give your car about 3500 RPM and pop the clutch. Looking in your side view mirror you should see smoke from your tyres. Now on street tyres you don’t want to do a big burn out, just enough to clear the water off your tyres. However if you like a good smoke show & have new tyres waiting at home then go for it, smoke em’ up, the crowd will love it. As soon as you see smoke you should back right off & drive forward slowly to the start line.
http://trackchat.com.au/media/data/500/smokin_ET_s1.jpg
Click here to see a pre launch burnout in a Automatic (Small 850 KB)
http://www.trackchat.com.au/media/data/500/SS_at_WSID_1.AVI
Now this is where you must be diligent as when you approach the start line you will see the Christmas tree.
It has two white lights on top. These are the staging lights. As you move forward to the white line on the track the first white light will come on this means you are now pre staged, move forward very slowly until the second light comes on. This indicates that you are staged at the start line in what’s known as a shallow stage. If you move forward again the first white light will go out this indicates that you are now deep staged & very close to going over the start line and have to reverse up and stage again.
http://trackchat.com.au/media/data/500/tree.jpg
All sounds complicated, nahhhh, just shallow stage every time & you’ll have no worries. That’s what we always do. Now that you are staged you just have to wait for the car in the lane next to you to stage. Once you are both ready there will generally be a 3 to 5 second pause & the marshal controlling the launch will initiate the Christmas tree & off you go.
Lets have a look at the Christmas tree.
The tree consists of the staging lights as previously mentioned.
Next are 3 amber lights, they are the first to light up and are .4 of a second apart, then we have the green light and lastly the red light. If you leave before the green light the red will appear and you have automatically lost the race. However the timer still starts when you car leaves the start line and your time will be accurate for the ? mile.
NOTE As you get more experienced you will learn that you can actually launch on the last amber light with out red lighting. This is due to your RT (Reaction Time) & the time it takes for your car to move forward and start the timer.
http://trackchat.com.au/media/data/500/FD.jpg http://www.trackchat.com.au/media/data/500/medium/Launch_street_T_Cool.jpg
Now that you have seen the green, it's time to floor it. There are different ways to launch for each type of transmission, the best way to start is launching just like you are at traffic lights and in a hurry to get somewhere, obeying the speed limit of course. Keep your car straight down the track. Keep an eye on the car in the other lane if they are in front of you, you don't want to just stare straight down the track with tunnel vision, why? Well if the other car has a mechanical failure or gets out of shape they could end up on your side of the track and KAPOW!! So keep an eye out, if the other car gets loose back off & brake. Not to freak you out but some cars do get loose & hit the wall on the 1/4 mile so better to be safe then sorry. Now as you rocket down the track and cross the finish line back off and gently brake, go back a gear or two and brake a little harder, by this time you are at the end of the track and will be going slow enough to make a right turn onto the return road. Before you turn make sure that you are not going to turn into the car next to you. Different tracks have different rules for which lane has right of way but generally it’s the inside lane to the turn.
Make your way back up the return road obeying the speed limit. You will go back past the start line but well out of the way of it. From there you will pass a point where you will get your time slip that has your ET (Elapsed Time) on it as well as a whole host of other times. We will look at that in another thread.
So there you go, you have just had your first taste of drag racing, be careful its very addictive & great fun.
Regards
The Track Chat team