Track preparation

[Sean37]

Ok well my first time at the track didn't go so great. I ran consistent 15.9's at 83-84 mph. I'm planning on going back in a couple weeks and I want to be well-prepared to improve on my times. Recently I found out that my transmission had multiple leaks in it, so I got that all fixed up and did a complete flush and fluid change. I figure I will take my 17's off next time and put my stock 225/60/16 Michelin's and 5-star rims back on. What kind of pressure should I run on a street tire? I've heard you can get better launches if you reduce the rear tire pressure. I really need to do better than a 2.32 60' if I'm going to run the times I SHOULD be running. So what kind of pressures do you guys run on street tires at the track? I know I'll probably have to practice a lot and experiement but I just want to get a general idea first. I already removed the jack and spare and don't have any excessive junk in my car. Last time I started the night with about 3/4 tank of gas, so this time I'll make sure to be at about 1/2 or less. So is there anything else I can do? Any special techniques anyone would like to share? Any cheap mods or anything I can do to get at least a little improvement? Thanks in advance. [img]graemlins/rock.gif[/img]

[ April 15, 2004, 11:56 PM: Message edited by: Sean37 ]

[WickEdSix9838]

pull the spare/jack, any subs and toolboxes, the back seats and passenger seat, unhook the front sway bar, air the front tires to 45 psi and backs to about 30 psi to start...thats what i do to prepare adn im not sure about your rear tire change, the 17's w/255's mgiht be better for traction than the 225's, but im not sure how good the prep is at the track you're running at so...atleast change the fronts though!

[FbodTrek]

Here's one: Don't just deck it off the line. Torque stall to about 1200, rollthe accelerator forward a bit THEN deck it. The trick is to NOT spin. You'll know when you get a good launch, your head will snap like a fat girls thong.

[Tru2Chevy]

Ditto to what's mentioned above....

Also, many tracks let you drive around the waterbox, if you have this option, go for it. Instead of a good burnout, just get on the gas enough to spin the tires around once or twice (just to clean the road crap off of them).

Stage the car well (bump it into the lights so that you just turn the second set of lights on), stall it up a bit (you'll have to experiment with what your car likes best with local track conditions), then go on the third yellow.

This should help out. Good Luck!

- Justin