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First Time at the Drag Strip

5K views 44 replies 11 participants last post by  <silver>sti 
#1 ·
I will be going to the drag strip for the first time Thursday and wanted to know anything that anyone could tell me to help make my first experience a positive one.

I will be going to Piedmont Drag way in North Carolina to run my Stage 2 2005 WRX Sedan a few times. Piedmont Dragway is 1/8th mile. I have never ran a car down the strip, so this is going to be a learning experience for me. I just want any tips to launching, shifting, etc.. I would also like to know what kind of times I should be aiming for.

Car Bio:

2005 WRX Sedan
Stage 2 Opensource Tune
GReddy UP
HSK DP
Borla Catback
APS CAI
GM 3-Port EBCS

On a Mustang Dyno is put down 234AWHP and 272 AWTQ.

Any help and information is greatly appreciated!

:)
 
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#2 ·
Keep as little gas in it as possible to save weight

Take out all unnecessary weight - especially the spare tire

AVOID THE BURNOUT PUDDLE

Slip the clutch... don't dump it unless you want to be towed home with broken gears.

Keep the intercooler as COLD as possible.. dump ice on it if you can.

The longer you idle waiting in line... the hotter your intercooler will get. Turn it off and push it through the line if you have to.

Hope this helps ;)
 
#19 ·
I personally drive right through the water box. Running a vf34 on a 2.0l swapped rs. I had problems with bogging off the line. Once I went full throttle off the launch limiter set at 5k I was able to get just enough spin to cut a 1.8 60'. Unfortunatley that was my second to last run and I missed second gear on my last run before they closed. I think I could get a little better but the water was pretty key for me. Then again I do run summer tires that are sticky.
 
#3 ·
Go in with no expectations and just HAVE FUN.
Be safe, and follow what ninefourteener said above. I put ice cubes in my IC sprayer too! :D
 
#10 ·
Don't slam gears. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

It's better to slip the clutch than drop it. You'll find the medium after quite a few runs.. but until you figure it out, it's better to glaze the clutch than blow out your transmission
 
#11 ·
keep your hood up while waiting in line. I have a spray bottle that I fill w/ 50/50 rubbing alcohol/water that I soak the IC with
 
#12 ·
I have a spray bottle that I fill w/ 50/50 rubbing alcohol/water that I soak the IC with
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You're spraying rubbing alcohol on a hot engine????
 
#13 · (Edited)
it's 50/50... and it's going on the IC. mix .5 isopropyl with equal parts water (that's only .25 alcohol) and try to light it on fire my friend. :thumbup:

Isopropyl (like all alcohol) is homogeneous with water. A homogeneous solution with 1/4 of the actual percentage being alcohol isn't able to light on fire. Now I do understand that the flammability temp of alcohol is lowered when it's heated but the actual point in which the alcohol becomes flammable is below room temp! (it evaps at room temp... right?). On a hot engine the water and alcohol evaporate together, and the 3 parts water vapor to 1 part vaporized alcohol raise the flash point of alcohol to an impossible point to ignite. On just a few hundred degree exterior of an engine, that's not going to happen. Impressive part about water... It expands 70X when vaporized... so there is actually Little to No oxygen available to burn said alcohol.

So why do I do this? Because alcohol evaporates quicker, and won't spontaneously ignite between the temp of the IC and the 201 degree boiling point of water (I'm at altitude). So via evaporation the alcohol cools the IC and evaporates VERY quickly... but the water stays on the IC and absorbs copious amounts of heat before evaporating. That's why many people use windshield wiper fluid as an intercooler sprayer. (it's methanol instead of isopropyl... but both have low flash points. Hell.. Methanol is only 70 degrees... but that IS NOT it's spontaneous ignition temperature. two VERY different things)

If you want to talk more about fire... I'd love to ;) I was an aircraft firefighter for 4 years, and a HUGE part of my job was to know the chemicals used around the airfield and the physics behind fire and the flammability of the chemicals.

Edited: to add more info and rephrase things for clarity :D
 
#17 ·
Water expands roughly 1500x when vaporized at atmospheric pressures. I'm a boiler house operator we also know relationships of fire, water, and steam.
I don't know where 70 came from... it's 1700. I glanced at some of my old teaching material. Thanks for the correction :D
 
#20 ·
One thing you have to watch for with driving through the water box is dragging water in the grooves of your street tires too close to the starting line. It may not be bad for you or your performance, but it is drag racing etiquette and there are reasons these are put in place. That is just a no-no.
On the outside chance you get some jacka$$ like me driving behind you, and I stuff my pig into the wall because there was water drug up to the starting line by the car before me, I will be none too pleased. If I am not on my way to the ER in a meat wagon, I will come and visit you at your pit. We will have "speaks".:p

If you do drive through the water, you MUST burn it off in a burnout before rolling to the starting line. Thanks.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Well, I am just stating common decencies of drag racing etiquette. I am certainly not trying to start a fight here. But if you see me in the staging lanes right behind you, DO NOT DRAG YOUR WATER TO THE STARTING LINE!

And since I drag race for a living, I am quite sure I am not looking too far into this.
 
#34 ·
+1


You're full of useful information, and then you turn around and act like an ass when someone disagrees with you.
 
#39 ·
Just for argument's sake...

Buzzz... I don't know why a line of water wouldn't be burned off when you do your burnout in the burnout box. Funny cars burn well past the line... and one would think that the water would be burned off before you're actually trying to gain traction...
 
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