Help me get out of 14's..

[FnSweet06]

first off im new to drag racing so any helpful pointers are greatly appreciated.
Well okay well i've been noticing that my car spins WAY to much which i know if only i can put that power down i'd be a bit faster.
I went to the track today and could not alteast touch a 14 in our 1/4 mile dragstrip. I acomplished a 14 flat when the car was stock which i thought wasnt to bad. Now that i have a full exhaust (Headers, x pipe high/flow cats/ maganpacks axle back) i do feel a bit of increase in horspower but my times are slower. Im launching the car at about 2500-3k and i spin all 1st, and fish tail 2nd. I am runnng Street tires i know slicks or DR's would do the trick to hooking but i dont think i should really need those now for the horspower the car is putting out, not much.
What do yall recomend? i dont have the car tuned yet, im currently looking for a great deal on a cai/tuner combo but with those mods im sure it should increase HP so i cant even imagine how much MORE the car is gonna spin. Driving back home i thought next time i go out there i should try feathering my launch which would have to be all 1st and 2nd but im worried that'll slow my times down drastically, dont wanna pull a 17 in a quater mile lol.

 

[DKO]

First of all, if you're running long tubes you really need a tune. They say you 'dont really need it' but it's going to maximize your gains. That being said...

Feathering the clutch will in fact help. The idea is to get as much power to the ground as possible without losing traction. The single best mod (IMO) you can do to improve your times is drag radials. In your case you could damn near shave an entire second off.

 

[stkjock]

First of all, if you're running long tubes you really need a tune. They say you 'dont really need it' but it's going to maximize your gains. That being said...

Feathering the clutch will in fact help. The idea is to get as much power to the ground as possible without losing traction. The single best mod (IMO) you can do to improve your times is drag radials. In your case you could damn near shave an entire second off.

+1 to DKO


spinning aint winning, if you spinning so much in 1st you'll need to feather out the clutch and lay on the power more slowly.

if your gonna go to the strip often the best mod you could do would be a set of takeoff with DRs

 

[FnSweet06]

so feather the clutch to get out of 1st huh. and 2nds also if i need to?

I have ford racing shorty headers. they were on the car when i bought it, i know my personal choice would of been long tubes also.

What RPM's is recomended to lauch at, on street tires.

and yes im starting to get addicted to this sport so an extra pair of DR's should be a route i should fallow.

 

[Freaknazty]

most i could ever pull on street tires was a 14.4 stock but i have a heavy foot , i think the highest launch rpm i could do was like 1800 or so and would still burn out a little , believe me and the rest of us if you like to run get dr's they are day and night i went from 1800 dumps n/a to 4 to 5k dumps turbocharged they make 1 hella difference pick up some extra stock rims and get some mickey thompson et streets 275/40/17 or some m&h 275/50/17 , personally id run the mt's because it will step up your gear ratio just a little and help you up out the hole .....

 

[TexasBlownV8]

Ditto on the drag radials. Get a couple of stock 17x8 rims and put some MT or M&H drag radials on them: you'll see a BIG difference.

FWIW, I ran with street radials for about 5 trips to the track (stock 17" Pirelli's). I found that I when I lowered the air temp to about 19 psi, I got better traction; with tires warm and psi's up over 20, the tires simply would spin once they got up to 22 psi or higher. At least with 19 psi (or even 18), I would still get some spin at the line, but just a little, and only at the line; once going, traction was dececnt. (but nothing like drag radials!) Still, I've had a few semi-sideways lauches at the track, and they can be scary!
Consider the risk: running with streets and losing control and crashing is not worth the few hundred a new set of drag radials would cost.

Pickup some rims/tires and slap them on when you go to the track, then take them back off when you get home.

I currently run MT 275/40/17's on stock 17x8 rims. I had been running right at 14.0/13.9s with streets, then dropped to 13.5s/13.6s with the different tires (and no other changes). Just having the extra control off the line, plus the extra traction, is worth it!!!

As far as launching, you'll be able to launch at higher rpms, at least a little. I'm automatic, and still cant launch much above 2500 (just spins too much if I try), but I have mainly the stock V6 suspension, too, which doesn't help.

But yup, you are right: with more power, you gotta get it to stick; tires are your best first choice, IMO.

 

[FnSweet06]

Thank for all your info!

I'll deffinetly be looking for a set of tires.
For the mean time im gonna try to learn with what i got to work with right now, by launching at lowers RPM's and feathering the clutch a bit more. Just gonna try diffrent options and see what works out the best.

 

[ArtQ]

+++++On the drag radials. If you are not planning on 4.10's or lower, the M/T's are the way to go.
I got High 1.8's out of the Pirrelis 25 PSI with suspension. Lauch at about 2500 and slip the clutch out of the hole till they bite, you will have to granny shift second to keep from spinning, speed shift 3rd and you should be able to run out to the stripe in 3rd. Just takes practice.

DR's, CAI and a tune should be your next mods.

 

[MikeVistaBlue06]

^^^^

What they are saying about drag-radials. Look for M&H and/or Mickey Thompson (MT). I run boost and they did not spin at all when I was at FFW. They stick like flypaper.

I have a set mounted on wheels that are the same as my OEM wheels. That way I can change them back and forth as necessary. Just got a Craftsman impact wrench and lug-nut socket set too.

Hope this helps.

Mike