Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

Here's a tip, lower the car.

In all seriousness, I have no advice to offer, I've never gone to a track, yet.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Dont expect excellent times. Its your first trip to the track and you dont know how to launch it.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Yessss I know.

You should come out to the track too! I think it's pretty close from your area.

Auto Club Speedway in Fontana

They are doing it every first Saturday of the month for 2012.

Yeah, I didn't mod my car to get a faster time at a drag strip anyway. I just want to experience it, it looks fun. And I think I'll have my GoPro by then. Let me film my FAIL, so you guys can make fun of me more.

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

OH it's there? that isn't far at all. Probably a 10-15 minute drive from my house. I could bring the Avant, but I haven't lowered it yet either. I don't have any safety gear. I gotta think about it.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

You only need a helmet if you are faster than 13.99.

You certainly don't need it, Anil.

ttribe

Ouch!

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

I probably won't get the helmet for this event, but which helmet do you guys recommend for first timers like me? I'm planning to attend couple drag strip events as well as road tracks this year.

ttribe

Channel your inner-Stig:

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Hopefully I don't break into 13's. Local members are tuned with the same mods as me are running anywhere from low 13's to mid 13's with trapping at +105.

I'll be happy with something like 14.5@100 That's like slower than a stock mode, but I heard the driver mod changes everything at the drag strip.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

I saw that helmet before! Isn't that pretty expensive?

v6cord2k5

iTrader: (1)

I thought you were given a helmet a couple of years ago? Or am I confusing you with another So.Cal member?

ttribe

Probably. I was joking anyway.

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

, but true.

It's times like these that I do wish I had bought a WRX so that I could have had more money to put into the car.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Oh! Yeah, I got one for free because my coworker knew the owner of this helmet brand. I forgot the name of the brand. But I sold it when I got it because I knew I didn't have time to do anything.

I like that design though!

Did you really want a WRX? Didn't know that!

Sly Raskal

iTrader: (1)

It was one of the cars I cross-shopped when I got my CL-S and was the car I cross shopped when we were deciding to get the Avant.

Both are great cars, but part of me does wish I had the WRX, but obviously I'm very happy with the Avant. It's a win-win with whichever car I would have gone with. It's just if I went with the WRX I could have modded it much more than I can the Avant because of the aftermarket support and it's cheaper.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

If the track doesnt supply helmets (not all do), pick up a cheap Bell helmet from WalMart. I usually dont like saying that, but their quality has come up and I believe they are DOT certified. You can get one of them for under $100.

I use my motorcycle helmet - a Shoei RF1000.

Mr Marco

JS + MS3, Finally got around to looking at your car. Nice ride! Really wanted one for myself, but in the end my honey had her heart set on the TL (couldn't even get her to go drive an S2000).

Good luck on the track and keep up the good work!

pits200

If this is your first time to the track, my advice is not to go. It's so damn addicting, I went for the first time towards the middle of last year and I've been itching for April to arrive. Living in the northeast means we have a 5 month break for our cars.

I'm guessing you don't plan on changing tires like a lot of ms3 drivers do who go to the track. Lower your front tire pressure pretty low to help with grip and bring a gauge and in between runs change your psi to see what works best.

You'll do fine, 50% in 1st, 80% in 2nd and full throttle the rest of the way. I was nervous approaching the tree and I have an automatic and awd so it was almost mindless. Now if I was rwd/fwd and manual, id definitely have been more nervous!

Based on your mods, I definitely see you hitting mid to low 13s after a few runs if the weather is nice. I

v6cord2k5

iTrader: (1)

HJC helmet iirc, those helmets are shoulda kept it... Hindsight is 20/20

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

I see. Yeah, all cars have pros/cons. You know I love A4 Avant. You made a good choice.

I'll probably die before entering the WalMart. It's a scary place.

Thanks a lot!

You are happy if your woman is happy. I know it.

Will do. Great advice. Thank you very much!

And you are right about the throttle position. I can't go full throttle in 1st and 2nd gear, the car puts out too much torque. I heard it's better for us to just get out of first two gears as soon as possible. Our cars pull like a train in 3rd and 4th with a custom tune.

Thanks again.

That's right! HJC. Should have kept it. Yes.

SuperTrooper169

iTrader: (2)

THIS. I've been to a number of tracks a bunch of times and to this day I still haven't broken into the 14s despite having quite a few cars that C&D or Motortrend ran 14s in. Just go out there and have fun.

Let us know how it goes, I can't wait to hear what you run! I'm going to have to start snooping around to see if there's any local tracks out here in Nashville. Got to get to it while it's nice and cold.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Todd! Thanks. I'll just do my best and enjoy the experience.

Btw, have you got tuned by anyone over at msf? Don't tell me you are still running the crappy OTS tune from Cobb. You know you can squeeze out about 30whp/30wtq just by dialing in your tune, right?

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

I dont blame you. I just go there to get my oil. $15 for 5 quarts, you cant beat that.

SuperTrooper169

iTrader: (2)

Ha ha yeah dude I'm still running an OTS tune, but I did update it when we got to Nashville because we can get 93 octane out here, so I have the most recent version of the State 1+ 93 tune and it feels much better than the previous map I was running.

We're in the process of buying a house out here so I haven't had much time or money to spend on the MS6. All in good time though. Looking forward to finally having a garage to work on my car in so lots of other things I'm excited about at the moment.

I'm starting to get to know some NATOR members out here and one is a PERM tuner so I'll probably end up paying him to help me with a moderate tune. Keep in mind the only other mod I have planned is a TIP. I'm not going to mod it past that. No TP, no DP and no HFFP, so the tune I get will probably not yield an extra 30hp/30tq but I'm sure I can get a little more than what the COBB OTS tunes are giving me.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

PERM Tune is the BEST. Nator members are great. My local members are extremely helpful. And some of them are really nice people. Always willing to help. Let me know if you need anything.

House + Garage = WIN

Congrats to you and your family, Todd!

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

And one more thing, don't get a TIH. It's pretty useless. It's just like an aftermarket bypass valve. You don't need it till later.

I would highly recommend you to get a Autotech HPFP Internal and be done with it. Fueling is the most important part for our cars. It'll allow you to get so much out of your car with a great tune like PERM.

SRI + AP (PERM Tune) + HPFP + ITV22 + 93OCT will give you so much power.

You don't have to mod from that point on.

SuperTrooper169

iTrader: (2)

I hear ya, but (I can't believe I'm about to say this) I don't want all that extra power. Yikes. I want to avoid all the cost involved with that much power in the MS6, i.e. motor mounts and diff mounts. The TIP or TIH as you put it would be mostly for sound, although I'm sure it does help some since I saw how restrictive the stock one looks when I cleaned out the EGR valve.

ttribe

SuperTrooper169

iTrader: (2)

Awe damn I knew I should have re-evaluated that statement.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Disappoint Son!

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

But really, it sounds like a lot of power, but it's not. I should call it it's pretty decent power gain.

And TIH doesn't give you anything other than a little bit of amplified turbo sound, this was one of the most popular topic over at msf like 2 years ago. But I guess if it makes you feel comfy, it makes sense. That's all it matters after all.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

Why havent we implemented a "No Thanks" button yet?

SuperTrooper169

iTrader: (2)

Lol come on guys, I'm old with kids now. Can't a guy just be happy with horsepower that came from the factory? Digging myself in deeper?

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

So what.

Oh, you're driving a 600+hp supercar now? If not, NO.



And I thought you were cool!!

SuperTrooper169

iTrader: (2)

I guess I have no arguement. I will start saving for an abundance of mods to make 400 AWD HP at the wheels and then come back and redeem myself. I'm sorry I let you down civic.

ttribe

Dude, I'm 40 with 3 kids...of course, I'm in the middle of a full-blown mid-life crisis, so I may not be the best example to follow.

civicdrivr

iTrader: (9)

All will be forgotten when you post that dyno graph

SuperTrooper169

iTrader: (2)

I've witnessed your crisis. I no want.

Here you go. Now you must forgive. :wink:

SuperTrooper169

iTrader: (2)

Sorry for jacking your thread Aaron lol!

phee

iTrader: (5)

i bet people have given you great advice so far but i will chime in anyway.

do not let air out of your tires on your first run. you need a baseline.

when at the tree you will be asked to the pre-stage lights, as you roll forward the first yellows come on and then you roll forward a bit more for the 2nd stage read lights.
-i typically do not roll onto the 2nd stage ready lights until my opponent give me a nod or rolls up.

once at the tree you will have a countdown, do not leave when the green is on. leave when the last yellow turns on. this will net you a great reaction time since it takes .500 for your brain to tell your foot to hit the gas.

Preloading:
driving a FWD high powered car is a bit difficult but it doesnt mean you have to run shitty times, this is where preloading comes in.
preloading simply means finding your optimal launch RPM (whatever that may be) holding that RPM in place and slowly releasing your clutch pedal until your car is on the verge of moving. this will get your right at the perfect spot to release the clutch and go without too much slipping or wheel hop.

the reason i pre-load is because it prevents the sudden jerk of the engine when you launch and the weight transfer is minimized.

once you are on your way focus on your tach, shift 100-200RPM before your fuel cut (this takes time to get perfect) remember your clutch pedal doesnt need to be slammed all the way down to allow you to get in and out of gear, if you can learn to shift rapidly at your clutch sweet spot that will be good for a few tenths.

If you have wheel hop, ease off the gas slowly. if you have wheel spin, stay in it, the tires will grip and be ready for your next run.

if at any minute you feel that youre going to lose control or go into the other lane LET OFF and coast. no sense in killing anyone.

some more tips:
go around the water unless you have slicks.
do not do burnouts as radials just get greasy.
open your hood between runs and let the engine cool off.
since your car is turbo i wouldn't shut it off between runs.
drop 4 psi per run till you find the perfect amount of spin and grip.
inflate your rears to 40 PSI


i currently drive a 93 civic hatch with a b swap. i used to have a swapped 6mt 2nd gen TL