Hints for faster E.T's
 

Guys/Gals.

Quite a few of you take your rides (CL-S or whatever it may be) to the track. I've been racing all sorts of cars (FWD, RWD, NA, Turbo, NOS) for quite a few years and wanted to drop a few hints and suggestions for the enthusiast weekend-type trip to the drag-strip:

(1) Invest in set of slicks on some Bogarts
- Don't guy wrinkle-walls... you will ruin your clutch.
- Get some Hoosier drag-radials or M/T drag-slicks
- Launch the car well for a MINIMUM 0.5s improvement (less on auto-tranny cars, unfortunateley)
(2) Weight matters!!
- Run low on the gas-tank, take a seat out (or more), take the bumper-guards out... a lot of 10lb items can add up to a LOT of weight
(3) Put spring-expanders in the rear (this is an alternative to putting solid struts in the back... which most of us don't want to!)
- Can buy these at Pep Boys or somewhere... basically it doesn't allow the rear springs to compress as much
(4) Un-bolt the exhaust. It saves weight... sounds good! Mediocre improve in high-end performance
(5) If you have a cold-air-filter... make sure that air has a direct path to the air-filter (you could substitute this with a mesh just for the track-day)
(6) Remove the A/C compressor belt, power-steering and alternator belts (trust me... this is horsepower being wasted)
(7) Know the torque-curve (and hp-curve... less importantly) of the car. It's the TORQUE/TRACTION combination that brings your E.T. down. HP helps you past the 1/8 mile. For Honda VTEC motors... it isn't worth taking the car past redline unless you have the necessary power-adders
(8) Buy some octane-boost for the track-day or pump 105-octane gas (careful if you are using leaded gasoline). I used 118-octane gas on my civic... injectors tend to go bad after repeated use
(9) PRACTICE!!!
- It takes time.... practice your launch... this will make or break your E.T.
- If you 'bog' the engine... you suffer.... if you spin uncontrollably... you suffer.
- 'Learn' how your car behaves

I guarantee you that if you can try (1) through (9) you will improve your 1/4 by 1.0s (on a Manual-Transmission) assuming you arn't doing any of (1) through (9) already.

Oh yeah... please wear a helmet!!

Be safe and enjoy!!