NocturnalEvo

Hey guys,
As im still new to driving stick-shift, i was j/looking for a little advice..

whats the best way to launch a car with a manual transmission at the track?

and wats the proper way to burn-out thru the water before lining up?


thanks guys

buffalo-tsx

well from my minimal experiance in track racing i found it is best to keep the revs at 3-4 rpm's then just drop off the clutch u wont just burn out but you will have a solid launch. I have never done the water burn out maybe some one else can help you with that and also havign the vsa off will help alot. Another thing to take in is the stagging lights im to lazy to type on how to stage properly but that helps too.

xizor

You will experience some vicious wheel hop launching your car. I did a clutch drop once (only plan to do it once) at ~3500-4000 RPM and it hopped so bad I thought my teeth would rattle off.

You must have VSA off, you cannot launch with it on.

NocturnalEvo

oh cool, thanks guys

Any tips on staging?

kurt_bradley

DO NOT (I repeat) DO NOT USE THE WATER!!!!!

You have street tires. The water is for slicks. You'll have water all in your tread and will waste yourself off the line. If you're going to go to the track, take notes:

Do a mild stage on those tires, just to get them hot. It isn't a burnout contest. Just get them to bark at you to let you know that they're hot. Once again, don't go through the water on street tires. To save yourself some heat in your tires, let the other guy stage first and pull up to the lights. Stage smart, basically. If you have the 6-speed model and you're stock, drop your air pressure down to 22 lbs in the front and put an extra couple pounds in the rear. Make sure you have VSA off. Once you're at the tree, pay close attention to the lights. If it's a sportsman tree (that means the 3 yellow lights light up one at a time), once revved up to about 3200 rpm, drop the clutch just as the second light goes out. You want to anticipate the 3rd light and catch a good light. If you wait until the light goes green, you'll have a 1.xxx light. (That sucks.) You want to try to get a .500 reaction time. Make smooth shifts right at the redline each time, and don't lift your foot off the gas at each shift. Drive-by-wire will kind of help smooth out your shifts. Don't waste your time holding the clutch either. You don't have to hold it to get a good, quick shift in. By the end of the track, you should have yourself a decent mid-15 time if you're a decent driver. Hopefully the climate conditions are one your side. If it's too humid, your times will suck. Deal with it. More helpful tips in my new book, "How not to race like a dumbass."

NocturnalEvo

thanks a lot!, appreciate it

yea i do have a 6MT, and yes for now it is stock hehe

cmf

4K RPM would be a lot (crazy wheel hop = shitty start) I would guess since the car is geared different from a 5-spd. Shit...you could drive off daily in second gear without even riding the clutch. I would stay somewhere between 3K-3500RPM.....kurt has good advise about the tire pressure though, it will help a lot.

kendroz

Kurt is right, the temp will play a good role in your ETs. An example is at 86 deg F my best ET is 16.101 but at 81 it will go 15.880. Also change the tires, mine are Yoko AVS ES100.
Launch at 3500 drop clutch then when you feel that you have traction hit it until 7100 and go to 2nd.

TinkySD

kurt: I don't see from the dynos and gearing information why you wouldn't want to run it all the way to the fuel cutoff to get maximum drive power. Why do you reccomend shifting at redline? Just to eliminated possibility of hitting the limiter?

JTso

iTrader: (2)

I noticed when I was on the dyno, there isn't anything to gain after 7000 or 7100 rpm. At least not in the current untuned state.

vwong

Yes, to eliminate the possibility of hitting the limiter because you lose time if you hit the limiter.

About the water box, in case you can't avoid the water box, do a burnout to get rid of the water. I think you can avoid the water box in most tracks, but in some tracks (for example, the 1/8th mile track in Irwindale, CA), there is no way you can avoid it.

kurt_bradley

I said to shift at the redline because, as others have stated, the powerband drops right at the top of the revs. Not only that, but I don't let off the gas on shifts, so I basically am getting just a little bit more on the rev while avoiding the rev limiter. If you hit the limiter, you can kiss a sweet time good-bye. It will cut throttle for half a second. I agree that at most tracks they leave room for you to avoid the water. They don't want you hurting your car (or your ego) if you've got street tires.

21_in_az

what about for an auto, any advice?

please dont say " SHOULD'EVE BOUGHT A 6SP" either, thanks.

kurt_bradley

Get a 6-speed...

Oh, wait. :P