tomorrow im headin out to the strip for the first time, (if its nice, damn michigan weather), i have a stock 99gt, what all will i need?, any tips??, i read the sticky and that was really useful, if i go ill post some times

 

lower your tire pressure to 18psi , wear pants not shorts , some tracks require helments so check there website.

watch the hand signals of the guys running the place , there picky about stuff sometimes.

 

Good luck.

 

You shouldn't need a helmet. You may wanna try to get a hold of some sticky tires, though. No matter what you do, your street tires will not hold traction.

 

i have discovered that several tracks in michigan require a helmet no matter how slow your car is...so i agree on checking up on that.

and what SXGT meant about the guy with the hand signals, is that the douchebags who usually work at the tracks are morons who think that they are police, so they act like they have pull, which they dont in most cases...but regardless, pay attention to them...also, make sure you have sleeves...they dont allow beaters...

take your spare and stuff out when you get there...lighten it up a bit...

 

If you have stock tires I would run them at the suggested pressure on the sidewall. Lowering the air pressure does not make them wrinkle wall drag slicks and will most likely give you less traction. Also, running an underi inflated tire at 90mph (or however fast your car goes) is not a great idea, especially with a tubeless radial street tire.

I assume you know the drill. Listen up for what lane your supposed to be in. Pay attention to the track announcer and get in the lanes when called. If the track is well prepped you will be fine with a stock car and street tires. Stage the car, drop the hammer and don't forget to have fun.

 

typically street tires only list the maximum pressure, not an "ideal" pressure...lowering the air pressure of street tires is not an attempt to get them to wrinkle, but more so to make certain that the tire is getting as much contact surface as possible. however, lowering the pressure too much is dangerous, as this may allow the tires to turn on the rim, which can obviously cause problems. It has been a long time since I ran regular street tires on my white car, but on my DD (fwd) i run about 22-25psi at the track. something else to keep in mind, when you do your burnout (which should be nice and quick in a street tire car) your tires get hot, and heat creates the pressure to increase. the best bet with regular tires is to drop the pressure to around 25, and see how it hooks...

 

My point is I see people airing down street tires all the time and most have no clue why or what they are doing. Too low of a pressure unloads the center of the tread and lessens the contact patch. Run a 40 psi rated tire at 18 psi then run it again at 32psi and you'll see where I am coming from. On a bone stock car with stock tires running at dragstrip for the first time my last worry would be to air the tires down.

If the track is prepped correctly the tire pressure you run on the street will be fine at the strip. In my experience mildly modified cars that break the tires loose on the street usually will grab on the track unless the driver dumps the clutch at 4000rpm. A bone stock car will most likely not boil the tires at a good track.

 

that is a good point about not going TOO low on the tire pressure..

however, even if i launch the bmw hard (and its slow) it will break traction on a very sticky track...but i dont have wide tires or anything...

 

don't listen to Pat, he knows nothing and purposely gives out the wrong info[8D]