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We had street legals last night at the track and so I went out wanting to work on my 60'. The DA was pretty bad, 5000', though it does get worse later on during the summer out here.
Just can't seem to figure out how to launch the car. I ran it 10x and tried experimenting with launching from 2000-2800rpm. No matter what I do I just can't seem to find the sweet spot between the clutch and the throttle where the tires hook up. I'm either spinning or I'm bogging it right as I get the clutch out. 2.4 60' times almost the entire night. I managed a single 2.3. And I turned TC on as a test and got a 2.2.
Kinda getting a little discouraged. Mishri has a pussy auto and the same setup as I do except he has 4.10 gears and UDP,CMDP. Same stock tires. No problems getting 2.1 60' times for him.
I'll give this one more shot but I'm getting to the point where if I can't get this down then I think it's getting close to where I need to make a decision. Do I want better times at the drag strip or do I want the fun of driving a manual car? It's looking like I'm no AmericanSpeed.
Looks like that "pussy" auto is kicking your arse in consistency That's the big advantage of them at the track.
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Yep that pussy auto absolutely is. At least on the launch. I don't think my shifts are really costing me that much judging by our trap speeds last time I went out and Mishri was there. If I had the same 60' he'd probably only have me beat by a couple tenths or so. Not to bad when you consider his mod advantage. But if I can't drive my car who really cares? Doesn't matter then.
I understand shallow staging and I try to be careful when I push into the 2nd beam. But much like launching this manual car, there is very little margin for error there.
@99GTVert
I'll just spell this out. Mishri's car has the same tires as I do. And more mods (gears, udp,cmdp). 2.1 60' times. Obviously the 2.4 I'm getting is god awful. Clearly I'm not getting the results that these pirellis are capable of due to lack of skill on my part. Ofcourse I could buy DR and it might help me out here. But the point is he doesn't need them to do better than I have. In that sense yes it is a band aid in this situation. Did you seriously think I mean that drag radials are a band aid for some guy with 500whp and a twin screw? I'm not anywhere near as ignorant as you seem to think dude. You're just reading to much into some of what I'm stating here. Maybe that works both ways.
The auto's in the S197 cars just might be much easier to launch.
Band aid for ****ty driving or not, sticky tires should be something that everyone should have when they go to the track. Aren't those Pirelli's all season tires? Trying to get a great launch with street tires is fun I guess, but there's much more to be had with some stickier rubbers. Getting a great launch is easier with DR's than with street tires, but so what? There's no way I'd cut a 1.85 with street tires, and other member have cut a 1.8x on street tires, but that doesn't take anything away from what I have already done.
You wouldn't seriously consider trading your car for an auto GT instead of spending a couple hundred bucks for some DRs, would you?
I think they are all seasons. Pretty decent tires IMO at least for a stock setup.
I can't afford drag radials right now even if I wanted them.
The crux of the issue is I'm having a tough time learning how to manage the throttle and the clutch to get the launch of the car down right. Yes I can get drag radials to help. But if I am unable to get better results than what I have with the current setup what is going to happen down the road with a lot more power? We're back to having the same problems with managing the launch of the car just like I am now. Hell last Friday I don't think spinning was the problem all of the time. I was bogging occasionally right as I got it all the way into gear. Pure suck on my part. So the issues go deeper yet than the tires. They are just one piece of the picture making it harder for me to manage this.
As for ditching the car and getting the auto. I'm not there yet but if I can't at least get my 60' down to a 2.2 then I'll think about it. I like manual cars and enjoy shifting it. But I don't want to feel like I'm excluded from driving it at the strip. Why go if you're just gonna suck all the time? Meh.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 99GTvert
You wouldn't seriously consider trading your car for an auto GT instead of spending a couple hundred bucks for some DRs, would you?
Sounds like the pressure is getting to you more than anything.
I only read your first post Riptide..
I usually end up getting my clutch nice and hot the first few runs to find the 'sweet spot'. I don't go often enough anymore to remember where and how I need to launch.
It's easier to be real aggressive with the throttle/clutch and to back it down a little each run than it is to be a wussy about it and try to work your way up. At least, that was how it worked for me.
Should I be trying to practice this stuff before I go to the drag strip? It's illegal ofcourse to hit 60mph on most roads around here but it might be easier on the car to practice launches that way since I don't need to go balls out for 1320'.
that's what I did when I couldn't launch for crap when I first got 4.10s and new tires.
Of course I did this at a empty industrial area.
It helps. You don't have to go the whole 1/4 or even 1/8th, just practices launches...
do you do a burn out to clean off the tires? maybe you should consider doing them in order to get used to spinning the tires in a controlled manner. I used to suck at launching the auto until I learned how to spin the tires a little, both in the water box and launching at the tree. I am not talking about spinning them so hard you launch sideways and hit the other car, but just enough to propel the car forward so that it grabs.. and THEN go WOT.
Spinning them briefly to "clean" the tire off hasn't helped. I did that the first time out. I've pretty much quit doing it because it hasn't seemed to have an effect and is just extra wear on the clutch. I end up getting one side damp because I can't avoid the water box entirely at my track. The amount of water that gets on there is negligible IMO. You can barely even see a bit of a wet patch in one spot on the tire and by the time the car is at the line it's gone.
and figure it out, 1,500-3000 rpms, whatever it may be... slide the clutch, and launch that shiet..
who cares. You'll figure it out, even if it costs you a clutch lol.
Trust me, if I can pull 2.0s with a stock clutch and 280 lbs. trq/FWD, you can surely do it with a friggin' Mustang! ROFL...
Quite honestly, the only reason I got an auto is because of a story of what happened to my best friend when he got shot during a fight... other then that, I would have chosen a 5 speed hands down..
At this point I'd be happy with a consistent 2.2 or less. 2.2 is what the car gets with the TC turned on. I need to at least be a be able to match the machine and not be to far behind Mishri.
I've been twice so far this year for around 20 passes. It'll be a bit before I go again. When I do I'll go out and screw around a little bit the day before. I just wonder how long I can keep this up trying to figure out the launch before I break something. I'm a bit paranoid about trashing the car before I get it paid off.
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