http://www.sh3d.com/ss/treeopener.asp

i got a perfect after a couple tries.... to bad its not this easy at the track

 

My reaction times with this crap sucks but at the track I always cut .1xx lights all the time.

 

i kept getting .410000000000000000003. "you oughtta go pro". thats right. IM DA MAN. i want to run my car so bad to how see good(or bad) i am off a REAL light

 

?????? what light setup do most tracks use..... im going to cecil county dragway if that matter to the ????????????

 

Notice on the site listed there are 2 choices for 'trees'. Tracks use the sportsman tree for all classes except the super classes (super comp, super gas) and the pro classes.To be perfectly honest, many pro racers have a practice tree in their house. (you can buy them) I don't believe in them. First of all, the practice trees need you to activate them with your thumb or finger. When I leave the line in the top fuel car, I floor it, using my foot and not my thumb or finger as a first reaction to the amber lights. IMO, the practice tree is 'unrealistic' because you have to activate it with your hand, not your right foot. It works better for the super classes, because those cars tend to be launched by letting go of a transbrake button, so it is more similar to the practice tree. I actully never 'practice' my lights, except by playing video games. Seems to work; my average light in competiton in top fuel is better than any other IHRA top fuel car year to date, and is better than any NHRA top fuel driver this year to date, for 05. I have the best 2005 average reaction time of any top fuel driver in the world right now, so I must be doing something right.

 

I got perfect a couple of times on both im so good!

 

birdieman, you dont run a transbrake?

something else that i dont like about those practice trees, they dont account for rollout time...for instance...if birdieman was to launch the exact same way in his top fuel car, or in my winter beater truck, the reaction times would be very different...

 

So true. That was going to be my next post.
Nope, no transbrake in a fueler. Once I'm pre staged, I pull the secondary fuel pumps lever, loading up the engine. You can usually hear this rpm drop watching in person and sometimes on tv as well. After that, I pull my foot off the clutch pedal and stage the car with a handbrake. At the ambers, I let go of the brake and mash the pedal to W.O.T. -Then the party begins.

 

wow..i had always assumed that all of the "real fast" cars ran trasnbrakes...do any? pro stock or anyone? pro stock sounds like a trans brake...

 

Yeah, in pro stock they use a line lock and a transbrake. You can tell because after they are staged, the rpms are instantly brought up to around 5000 and held there automaticly. This contrasts driving a blown top alcohol funny car or dragster, where you have to hold the rpms steady with your right foot while the clutch is depressed with your left foot, still using the handbrake to stage. When you leave in one of those cars, you have to 'swap feet' and dump the brake.