My Story - 1st Impression of [bracket racing]

[DraggnRoush]

His sig indicates v6 shocks. A video would be great to see how the car comes out of the hole.

Does the car lift, hook and go or lift and squat then hook and then break the tires loose? If the car is too loose and bouncing around or porpoising through each shift that aint good.

Symptoms?

Do you have anti squat brackets? Anti squats and adjustable shocks are used a lot.

Lifts well, then spins for a good bit, hooks & I slam into 2nd gear, then it bogs & catches & goes... its bouncing a good bit!

heres the video of me red-lighting in the bracket race
http://s382.photobucket.com/albums/oo269/iROK247/NEDragway/?action=view&current=NEDAug1095.mp4

 

[Tre06GTP1SC]

OK last tonight I got a chance to PRACTICE drag racing. 10 runs @ New England Dragway on "Street Night". Here are my best 2 timeslips, they were during the first 1/2 hr of the night while the track surface was still prepped... it went downhill after that, but I got a lot of great practice launching and shifting the car and now I'm better prepared! Even got a personal best of 11.856...

Below are 3 timeslips that resulted from meeting a dude with a stock Nissan R GT twin-turbo (his girlfriend's) and we lined up about a half-dozen times. Always finished within .10 sec of each other & being so closely matched running head-head was wicked exciting! THANKS to all of you contributing helpful technical info & entertaining posts... I'm glad I told my story. I'm getting better all the time with your help!

Thats whats its all about. To hell with all this internet arguing. Just go out there and have fun. Became familiar with your car and race in a division that fits you best. Glad you are having fun with the sport of drag racing

 

[1fastpony]

Lifts well, then spins for a good bit, hooks & I slam into 2nd gear, then it bogs & catches & goes... its bouncing a good bit!

heres the video of me red-lighting in the bracket race

Your bucking each shift like a wild stallion coming out of the gate at a rodeo. That weight shift back and forth cause the tires break loose and lose momentum. Anti squats for a little over $100 and some QA1 or Dspecs and your car will calm down and hook up and stay hooked up, and shifting will be easier too.

I think your on the right track. Settle that suspension and things will come easier.

Heres is a couple of videos after I finally got my suspension worked out. I had been bouncing like you and when the D-specs and ANti Squats went in it was a world of difference.

http://www.streetfire.net/video/11010-1248-etmpg_729593.htm

http://www.streetfire.net/video/koh-1125-1222etmpg_2006247.htm

 

[DraggnRoush]

YES... you're right, that's it! The bucking bronco has got to GO... my shocks are the problem. As soon as I can afford to buy a quality drag suspension I'm all over it.

Can you tell me about anti-squats? Which anti-squat are you using - I'm going to call Calvert about their shocks, SD tells me they're the people to see about drag shocks. You like the D-Specs?

 

[1fastpony]

I set my car up with Steeda Ulra light springs with the d-specs. I was aiming at a good highway soft ride, drag set up, and AutoX firm ride. On the highway I can set them soft ~5turns or more. At the drag strip they are set -3.5 turns out back and -4turns up front usually. For the firm ride - 2.5 all around and its like the car is on rails, even at 100 mph, absolutly no roll.

Anti Squats change the instant center of the car preventing the rear from squating down and the car loosing traction. They help the car "dig into the track" and shoot the car out horizontally. Steeda, CHE and BMR, offer these, weld/tack them in at your power level though. Steeda has more than one setting which enable you to get the best dial in but of course are more $$. The CHE you can get for just a little above $100 or so. They are easy to install.

Now, if SD made a recommendation, can't go wrong there.

 

[DraggnRoush]

I believe I already have the Steeda Anti-Squat brackets (see pic), just didn't know that's what they are! Bought the car with a good number of mods already done & I've been slowly discovering them as I go over every inch of the car making my own mods & "checking up on" the mods done previously to be sure they were done right... btw, I lowered the LCA to the next hole just a couple of days ago - seemed to bite a little better, certainly didn't hurt.

 

[1fastpony]

Can't tell from the picture looks like they are powderd coated painted though. The Steedas will be zinc coated and have the S on them. When I have mine installed in the lower postion for the track they're slighty angled down not level. They certainly bit better with street tires but when the drag tire go on and heated up they really dig in.

 

[DraggnRoush]

Yup... that's them! Mine are dirty and in that pic you can't see the S but it's the same unit in your pic. So I have anti-squats. I understand that the lower I put the LCA in the bracket, the more I raise the instant center. There should be a sweet spot and I may not have found it yet...

Now I'm researching shocks. Perhaps QA1.

If I understand the dynamics; the front shocks need more compression damping to slow down the dropping nose after the initial launch... the nose comes up easily due to low rebound damping. The rears would need the opposite effect - they need to compress easily and rebound slowly - but not dramatically so in either direction.

 

[1fastpony]

Grasshopper...I think you have it almost whooped.

That 11.8 with a low 1.6 high 1.5 60' will get you to a sub 11.5 et. Most of the fast n/a cars on this sight use QA1 shocks. Each time you shift and that front end goes up and down you can almost bet that you gave up a 1/10 of a second. If you notice my runs on the video links i posted earlier once my front end came up it stays up through each shift. It looks boring and maybe slow but the et show up on the board. There are some guys on this site that have it down to a T. and other I know whom don't even bother on these boards that run even faster.

 

[Noclutch]

Nice times DraginRoush, keep it up.

 

[Noclutch]

What's your car? We should get together and talk shop at the next MOM's race.

S1036, we might have already talked...

Check your timeslips....I just might be on one...to help you find it, look at only the ones that you lost...J/K

I'll see ya at the next event no doubt.

 

[DraggnRoush]

Nice times DraginRoush, keep it up.

Thanks dude... I'm trying!

Grasshopper...I think you have it almost whooped.

That 11.8 with a low 1.6 high 1.5 60' will get you to a sub 11.5 et. Most of the fast n/a cars on this sight use QA1 shocks. Each time you shift and that front end goes up and down you can almost bet that you gave up a 1/10 of a second. If you notice my runs on the video links i posted earlier once my front end came up it stays up through each shift. It looks boring and maybe slow but the et show up on the board. There are some guys on this site that have it down to a T. and other I know whom don't even bother on these boards that run even faster.

That's reassuring... I know there's a lot more in the car! My launching & shifting skills need to improve, I'm the first to admit. Tuning the suspension to hook and not to bounce down the track while I'm shifting will go a long way! I understand that if I can get my 60' time down, the ET will improve even more... your car did look SMOOTH in those videos... that's what I'm shooting for! Hey 1fastpony, thanks for some really great help... now I'll get out there and do ya proud!

 

[luillo]

Form of racing that evens out the performances of two vehicles so just about anybody can get into drag racing and have some fun. Except tjm73.....he's gay.

Two cars pull to the line. Each one has their own "dial-in" or the time they believe their car will run. This is then posted on the scoreboards. Let's say you dial-in with a 13.50 elapsed time and your opponent dials-in at 12.00. After both of you are staged your side of the tree will come down first since you will have a 1.50 second head start. Both of you leave and the object is to be the first one to the finish line WITHOUT going quicker than your dial-in. This is where cutting a good light and knowing what your car will do comes into play.

Easy....right?

Wow, thanks SD i was very curious about bracket racing. Every time i go to the track i just go for times only and people keep asking me why i dont bracket race but i dont know shit about the rules. i was thinking i just needed to run as close to my dial in time all the time no matter who i was racing but if i can race other cars that have more power than me and i will get a head start then see who runs better then sounds like fun... I will look in the internet to find more rules and better understand it, for now i think i have a good idea how it works

 

[tjm73]

S1036, we might have already talked...

Check your timeslips....I just might be on one...to help you find it, look at only the ones that you lost...J/K

I'll see ya at the next event no doubt.

I think I did race you... and I think I did lose... LOL!!

I did not have a good night. hit the rev limiter on one run and missed 2nd gear on the next. WTF was I thinking?!?!?

I gotta get my MGW installed and I need sticky tires something fierce.

 

[DraggnRoush]

Nice times DraggnRoush, keep it up.

Thanks for the encouragement - I'm happy to say I'm continually improving...

 

[Noclutch]

Thanks for the encouragement - I'm happy to say I'm continually improving...

Holy Crap! Nice job, you sure have a sharp learning curve, adapting to a new set up and track conditions cause most to fight the car and show little gains, bettet 60', did you change tires?

Great job!!!

 

[DraggnRoush]

Same everything on the car... I'm just learning to drive it!

Thanks for the kind words, I really am enjoying this new sport - I raced motocross as a teenager & spent 10 year road racing bicycles in the 90's - now that I'm 51, I needed a new type of racing that would give me the thrills without requiring the "ironman" physique which I've slowly been losing!

 

[dysan]

Gotta get those reflexes back for those reaction times! Hehe.....

Nice times! I'm heading to the track tonight to do remote tuning with Lito so no going for the gusto tonight. It's a shame I can't nail it because I just put in the CHE anti-squat brackets and put some new-take-off shocks in since my old ones had 118k miles on them.

 

[Noclutch]

Well, if you were not so far away from Empire Dragway I would invite you to the next MOMS event, you would love running in our heads up program too if you like what you are doing now. There are 4 or 5 Roush cars running between 12.8-11.? with different tires and combos and your Mustang would stand out in that crowd.

Well, everyone is welcome no matter how far they have to drive/haul to show up, we had someone from Ohio show up this year....not that I am applying peer pressure....

The bracket supporters here have stuck a bee in my bonnet (you bass tuds). Now I to want to go and give it a try when I get some DRs, until I give it a try...we will see...NMRA? LOL, thanks guys my wife hates me enough as it is......

In the past I used to drive trucks for a living and understand how hard it is so no worries if it is too far for an event where no $ is up for grabs but if you want to say you did it, you have to do it...LOL.

Good luck out there and safe racing.

Craig