Drag Racing Technique Improve your track times

Finally got to the track with my 93 Firehawk

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Old 11-08-2014, 08:39 PM
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Finally got to the track with my 93 Firehawk

I ran at Atlanta dragway Friday night. Nice cool air at 55 degrees. Ran 13.80@ 103 mph. The 1/8 mile i went 9 flat at 82.14 mph. My 60 ft was a terrible 2.28

This was on street tires with a M6. I was hoping for 13.5 but thats not happening with street tires. Also wanted to get a baseline before doing the head/cam change.
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Old 11-19-2014, 11:55 PM
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Re: Finally got to the track with my 93 Firehawk

Originally Posted by Matts97camaro
I ran at Atlanta dragway Friday night. Nice cool air at 55 degrees. Ran 13.80@ 103 mph. The 1/8 mile i went 9 flat at 82.14 mph. My 60 ft was a terrible 2.28

This was on street tires with a M6. I was hoping for 13.5 but thats not happening with street tires. Also wanted to get a baseline before doing the head/cam change.
I would pick up a set of Hankook Ventus z214 racetrack slicks from Tire Rack for $99.00 each and do a run.Pick up a second set of wheels for them.I would replace the coil wire also as it seems to be the weak link in the chain.Spark plugs can make a difference as well.I like NGK.Throttle body bypass(6hp).I only came in here because I've read previous posts many moons ago,with your set up ,folks were running high 12's and low 13's.Tires 255-50-16.I would also change the trans linkage to a Hurst linkage or something to eliminate any miss shifts.Some folks just replace the shifter without replacing the factory linkage.Hope this helps.Since nobody chimed in,well I did.My02
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Old 12-01-2014, 09:40 AM
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Re: Finally got to the track with my 93 Firehawk

Thanks man thats some good advice. I will be checking out those tires for sure. Cheapest I found were from summit and there were 189 a piece for drag radials.
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Old 12-01-2014, 10:33 AM
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Re: Finally got to the track with my 93 Firehawk

Not sure that "road race" tires (e.g. - the Hancook's) will provide optimum traction on a drag strip. The sidewall construction would probably be significantly different. They would be designed for high cornering loads.
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Old 01-15-2015, 08:54 AM
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Re: Finally got to the track with my 93 Firehawk

You'll have to make a decision when it comes to drag tires. You can get drag radials which will be an overall improvement in dry traction. But will suffer on the street in rain and cold temps. This isn't an issue if you only drive the car on nice sunny days like many.

If you are open to having a track only set of wheels I would get a set of slicks. Reason being manual trans cars will shock the tires much harder than an automatic. A bias ply slick will have a lot more give in the sidewalls and absorb a lot of this shock, you've probably seen pictures of slicks wrinkled on the launch. Drag radials have a much stiffer sidewall and are much less forgiving in this area.

Good piece of advice for those with a manual on street tires or drag radials is to really play with the launch technique. Most find feathering the clutch on your way off the line will preserve traction and get you moving pretty quick. If you have slicks you should be able to pretty much dump the clutch and go. Just make sure you axle is up to the task.
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Old 01-24-2016, 12:19 AM
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Re: Finally got to the track with my 93 Firehawk

Originally Posted by Kyle@SLP
You'll have to make a decision when it comes to drag tires. You can get drag radials which will be an overall improvement in dry traction. But will suffer on the street in rain and cold temps. This isn't an issue if you only drive the car on nice sunny days like many.

If you are open to having a track only set of wheels I would get a set of slicks. Reason being manual trans cars will shock the tires much harder than an automatic. A bias ply slick will have a lot more give in the sidewalls and absorb a lot of this shock, you've probably seen pictures of slicks wrinkled on the launch. Drag radials have a much stiffer sidewall and are much less forgiving in this area.

Good piece of advice for those with a manual on street tires or drag radials is to really play with the launch technique. Most find feathering the clutch on your way off the line will preserve traction and get you moving pretty quick. If you have slicks you should be able to pretty much dump the clutch and go. Just make sure you axle is up to the task.
I vote this info should be a sticky.Anyway a problem could exist if when you go to the track and you get a parking place until you are ready to run is to leave your stock tires in the parking place when you switch out to slicks unguarded while you run as they could be stolen so maybe a guard dog would help.Might bring a friend to help out.Maybe I'm talkin nuts.Hope this helps.( I don't know if I could drive to the track from home with slicks without getting stopped)My next purchase might be MT street legal drag radials street legal.
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