HELP Racign the M6 for the first time!
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 492
From: AK Ron
HELP Racign the M6 for the first time!
Ok Im taking the TA Racing tomorrow for the first time and I deed all the help i can get to get good times.
Tire pressure ?
What RPM to shift what gear
Whats the highest gear i need to use?
ect ect
Im so exited but scared ll get crappy times
Tire pressure ?
What RPM to shift what gear
Whats the highest gear i need to use?
ect ect
Im so exited but scared ll get crappy times
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 93
From: Bremerton, WA
Tire Pressure:
Well, I've never dropped my tire pressure at the track, so I don't know.
RPM:
In first, I shift about 5800. All other gears right at 6000. Seems to trap the best at these points. Don't try to power shift or anything, since this is your first time. Make sure you push AWAY from you when shifting to 3rd and 4th to prevent a missed shift to 1st or 2nd. I'd hate to hear the you bent all your pushrods.
Gears:
You'll use 4th for about the last 3-400 feet. Should be pretty close to 1000' when you shift.
Avoid the water if you're on street tires. Do a tiny little burnout on the dry to clean the tires. When you launch, don't rev above ~2600 and let the clutch out fairly quick (don't drop it) and give a decent bit of gas as you're letting it out, then roll it on all the way when you have traction and the clutch is engaged.
Well, I've never dropped my tire pressure at the track, so I don't know.
RPM:
In first, I shift about 5800. All other gears right at 6000. Seems to trap the best at these points. Don't try to power shift or anything, since this is your first time. Make sure you push AWAY from you when shifting to 3rd and 4th to prevent a missed shift to 1st or 2nd. I'd hate to hear the you bent all your pushrods.
Gears:
You'll use 4th for about the last 3-400 feet. Should be pretty close to 1000' when you shift.
Avoid the water if you're on street tires. Do a tiny little burnout on the dry to clean the tires. When you launch, don't rev above ~2600 and let the clutch out fairly quick (don't drop it) and give a decent bit of gas as you're letting it out, then roll it on all the way when you have traction and the clutch is engaged.
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 86
From: HONOLULU, HI
alright, most of what they said is true... here you go, you dont want to launch over 2000. trust me, you'll see if you do. ls1, shift at 6000. you should make the quarter almost at the top of 4th. with street tires a burn out doesnt really matter but i do'em anyway. good luck
doug
doug
Registered User
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 1,122
From: Memphis, TN, USA
Unless you've changed your rear to 3.73, you won't finish in the top of 4th. You'll shift into 4th just before you hit the traps with the stock 3.42 rear.
Here's something I wrote up a while back. I hope it helps.
================
With street tires, drive around the water box. Don't get ANY of your tires in the water. When the guy gives you the signal, just turn the tires over once to clean the debris off of them and zip on up to the staging beams.
With slicks, there's a track attendant there to help guide you into the water box. He'll make sure your rear wheels are in the water. Get them wet, then pull forward to do your burnout. DO NOT DO YOUR BURNOUT IN THE WATER BOX! (pet peeve, sorry)
Hit the pre-stage light and then inch into the stage beam. It's a courtesy to pre-stage and wait for the other guy to pre-stage before staging .. but at a TnT night, nobody will really care.
When the tree starts coming down, go on the 3rd amber.
If you've got a M6 tranny, rev up to about 2700 and feather the clutch off the line. If you have the A4, hold the brake and rev it up to about 2,000 - 2,300. Experiment with these numbers to find the highest you can go before the tires break loose when you start off the line.
Don't worry about the reaction time or the tree since this is your first time. You can sit at the line 5 seconds and still run a good ET and trap speed. The timer starts when you leave, not when the light turns green.
When you go out there, all you need to worry about is finding the staging beams (look for a white box about two inches tall). Once you find the beams and get staged, go when you see the 3rd amber light as the tree comes down. If you redlight ... who cares?
At the other end of the track, you should pass two orange markers. Once you pass the 2nd one, you have completed the course and you're done. (I never saw the markers until the 3rd run ... I just kept my foot in the floor until I passed the signs with the times on them)
Once you clear the traps, let off the gas and ease a little on the brakes ... ease on ... ease off ... ease on ... etc ... you don't want to jab the brakes at 100 MPH.
Most tracks have 2 turnoffs. Don't even bother looking for the first one. Keep driving down to the end of the track and there should be a long sweeping turn. WATCH FOR THE OTHER DRIVER Don't ever cross into the other lane until the other driver has passed. If you are on the inside lane, the other driver should wait for you to turn off before he/she crosses over (unless they are WAAAAY ahead of you). But, you can't count on them watching for you ... this may be their first night, too.
Once you make the turnoff, head for the timeslip booth. Take your slip, (say thank you) and keep driving. DO NOT STOP AND LOOK AT YOUR SLIP! As soon as you passed the traps, the starter got the next pair up to the staging tree. They are about 20 seconds behind you .... don't stop in their way.
Head back to the pits or back to the staging lanes again. Now you can look at your time slip.
General stuff ---
Once you enter the gates of the motorsports park ... turn off the A/C and don't ever turn it back on until you leave for the night. Blower fan and heat are OK, but no A/C. You don't want to drip water condensation down the track.
Parking lights ... turn them on. Most tracks don't like you to have your headlights on, but they do want the parking lights. (If you have a Camaro with auto headlights and you haven't modded that yet ... the track will just have to get over it)
Windows up! You can have the windows down in the staging lanes, pits, turn off, etc ... but once you leave the staging lanes and head into the burnout box ... roll the windows up. Once I pass through the traps at the other end, I roll down the window. It gets stuffy in there!
Radio off. Turn it off. You don't need the distraction. After you've gotten the feel for the track and events, you can tune the radio to the track's PA system.-
Seat belt. This is a DUH item. Buckle up!
Helmet -- if you are running 13.99 or faster, most tracks require a helmet. If you don't have one, go out and run anyway. If you pull a 13.99 or faster, they will either ignore it or ask you to get a helmet. Borrow one from one of your friends at the track if you have to. The local track here usually doesn't get picky on the helmet until you're running 13.5 or lower. Personally, I think everyone should wear a helmet no matter how fast/slow they run.
Staging lanes -- there are multiple lanes. You'll see which lanes have street cars, which lanes have pro cars, and which lanes have bikes. Get in the street cars lane. At some point they will stop the street lanes and let the pro cars and bikes go before rotating back to the street cars.
Above all else ... watch! The first time I went out, I let the person in the other staging lane beside me do everything first. Then I just followed him. I watched where we went to go into the burnout area. I watched him drive to the staging beams, and then pulled up even with him. I left the tree late on my very first run so that I could get a feel for the track. The other driver was about 10 cars ahead at the end of the track, so I followed him through the turnoff and over to the timeslip booth. Watch and Learn!
If you can resist the temptation to run full throttle on your first run, try to do your first run at about 80% throttle. You need to run through the entire sequence of events first. Then, on your second run ... it's ***** to the wall!
And finally .. HAVE FUN ! That's the number one rule! Enjoy your car and the people at the track. That's the whole purpose of the track in the first place.
Here's something I wrote up a while back. I hope it helps.
================
With street tires, drive around the water box. Don't get ANY of your tires in the water. When the guy gives you the signal, just turn the tires over once to clean the debris off of them and zip on up to the staging beams.
With slicks, there's a track attendant there to help guide you into the water box. He'll make sure your rear wheels are in the water. Get them wet, then pull forward to do your burnout. DO NOT DO YOUR BURNOUT IN THE WATER BOX! (pet peeve, sorry)
Hit the pre-stage light and then inch into the stage beam. It's a courtesy to pre-stage and wait for the other guy to pre-stage before staging .. but at a TnT night, nobody will really care.
When the tree starts coming down, go on the 3rd amber.
If you've got a M6 tranny, rev up to about 2700 and feather the clutch off the line. If you have the A4, hold the brake and rev it up to about 2,000 - 2,300. Experiment with these numbers to find the highest you can go before the tires break loose when you start off the line.
Don't worry about the reaction time or the tree since this is your first time. You can sit at the line 5 seconds and still run a good ET and trap speed. The timer starts when you leave, not when the light turns green.
When you go out there, all you need to worry about is finding the staging beams (look for a white box about two inches tall). Once you find the beams and get staged, go when you see the 3rd amber light as the tree comes down. If you redlight ... who cares?
At the other end of the track, you should pass two orange markers. Once you pass the 2nd one, you have completed the course and you're done. (I never saw the markers until the 3rd run ... I just kept my foot in the floor until I passed the signs with the times on them)
Once you clear the traps, let off the gas and ease a little on the brakes ... ease on ... ease off ... ease on ... etc ... you don't want to jab the brakes at 100 MPH.
Most tracks have 2 turnoffs. Don't even bother looking for the first one. Keep driving down to the end of the track and there should be a long sweeping turn. WATCH FOR THE OTHER DRIVER Don't ever cross into the other lane until the other driver has passed. If you are on the inside lane, the other driver should wait for you to turn off before he/she crosses over (unless they are WAAAAY ahead of you). But, you can't count on them watching for you ... this may be their first night, too.
Once you make the turnoff, head for the timeslip booth. Take your slip, (say thank you) and keep driving. DO NOT STOP AND LOOK AT YOUR SLIP! As soon as you passed the traps, the starter got the next pair up to the staging tree. They are about 20 seconds behind you .... don't stop in their way.
Head back to the pits or back to the staging lanes again. Now you can look at your time slip.
General stuff ---
Once you enter the gates of the motorsports park ... turn off the A/C and don't ever turn it back on until you leave for the night. Blower fan and heat are OK, but no A/C. You don't want to drip water condensation down the track.
Parking lights ... turn them on. Most tracks don't like you to have your headlights on, but they do want the parking lights. (If you have a Camaro with auto headlights and you haven't modded that yet ... the track will just have to get over it)
Windows up! You can have the windows down in the staging lanes, pits, turn off, etc ... but once you leave the staging lanes and head into the burnout box ... roll the windows up. Once I pass through the traps at the other end, I roll down the window. It gets stuffy in there!
Radio off. Turn it off. You don't need the distraction. After you've gotten the feel for the track and events, you can tune the radio to the track's PA system.-
Seat belt. This is a DUH item. Buckle up!
Helmet -- if you are running 13.99 or faster, most tracks require a helmet. If you don't have one, go out and run anyway. If you pull a 13.99 or faster, they will either ignore it or ask you to get a helmet. Borrow one from one of your friends at the track if you have to. The local track here usually doesn't get picky on the helmet until you're running 13.5 or lower. Personally, I think everyone should wear a helmet no matter how fast/slow they run.
Staging lanes -- there are multiple lanes. You'll see which lanes have street cars, which lanes have pro cars, and which lanes have bikes. Get in the street cars lane. At some point they will stop the street lanes and let the pro cars and bikes go before rotating back to the street cars.
Above all else ... watch! The first time I went out, I let the person in the other staging lane beside me do everything first. Then I just followed him. I watched where we went to go into the burnout area. I watched him drive to the staging beams, and then pulled up even with him. I left the tree late on my very first run so that I could get a feel for the track. The other driver was about 10 cars ahead at the end of the track, so I followed him through the turnoff and over to the timeslip booth. Watch and Learn!
If you can resist the temptation to run full throttle on your first run, try to do your first run at about 80% throttle. You need to run through the entire sequence of events first. Then, on your second run ... it's ***** to the wall!
And finally .. HAVE FUN ! That's the number one rule! Enjoy your car and the people at the track. That's the whole purpose of the track in the first place.
Last edited by rncotton; Apr 15, 2003 at 10:27 AM.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 492
From: AK Ron
Originally posted by rncotton
Unless you've changed your rear to 3.73, you won't finish in the top of 4th. You'll shift into 4th just before you hit the traps with the stock 3.42 rear.
Here's something I wrote up a while back. I hope it helps.
================
With street tires, drive around the water box. Don't get ANY of your tires in the water. When the guy gives you the signal, just turn the tires over once to clean the debris off of them and zip on up to the staging beams.
With slicks, there's a track attendant there to help guide you into the water box. He'll make sure your rear wheels are in the water. Get them wet, then pull forward to do your burnout. DO NOT DO YOUR BURNOUT IN THE WATER BOX! (pet peeve, sorry)
Hit the pre-stage light and then inch into the stage beam. It's a courtesy to pre-stage and wait for the other guy to pre-stage before staging .. but at a TnT night, nobody will really care.
When the tree starts coming down, go on the 3rd amber.
If you've got a M6 tranny, rev up to about 2700 and feather the clutch off the line. If you have the A4, hold the brake and rev it up to about 2,000 - 2,300. Experiment with these numbers to find the highest you can go before the tires break loose when you start off the line.
Don't worry about the reaction time or the tree since this is your first time. You can sit at the line 5 seconds and still run a good ET and trap speed. The timer starts when you leave, not when the light turns green.
When you go out there, all you need to worry about is finding the staging beams (look for a white box about two inches tall). Once you find the beams and get staged, go when you see the 3rd amber light as the tree comes down. If you redlight ... who cares?
At the other end of the track, you should pass two orange markers. Once you pass the 2nd one, you have completed the course and you're done. (I never saw the markers until the 3rd run ... I just kept my foot in the floor until I passed the signs with the times on them)
Once you clear the traps, let off the gas and ease a little on the brakes ... ease on ... ease off ... ease on ... etc ... you don't want to jab the brakes at 100 MPH.
Most tracks have 2 turnoffs. Don't even bother looking for the first one. Keep driving down to the end of the track and there should be a long sweeping turn. WATCH FOR THE OTHER DRIVER Don't ever cross into the other lane until the other driver has passed. If you are on the inside lane, the other driver should wait for you to turn off before he/she crosses over (unless they are WAAAAY ahead of you). But, you can't count on them watching for you ... this may be their first night, too.
Once you make the turnoff, head for the timeslip booth. Take your slip, (say thank you) and keep driving. DO NOT STOP AND LOOK AT YOUR SLIP! As soon as you passed the traps, the starter got the next pair up to the staging tree. They are about 20 seconds behind you .... don't stop in their way.
Head back to the pits or back to the staging lanes again. Now you can look at your time slip.
General stuff ---
Once you enter the gates of the motorsports park ... turn off the A/C and don't ever turn it back on until you leave for the night. Blower fan and heat are OK, but no A/C. You don't want to drip water condensation down the track.
Parking lights ... turn them on. Most tracks don't like you to have your headlights on, but they do want the parking lights. (If you have a Camaro with auto headlights and you haven't modded that yet ... the track will just have to get over it)
Windows up! You can have the windows down in the staging lanes, pits, turn off, etc ... but once you leave the staging lanes and head into the burnout box ... roll the windows up. Once I pass through the traps at the other end, I roll down the window. It gets stuffy in there!
Radio off. Turn it off. You don't need the distraction. After you've gotten the feel for the track and events, you can tune the radio to the track's PA system.-
Seat belt. This is a DUH item. Buckle up!
Helmet -- if you are running 13.99 or faster, most tracks require a helmet. If you don't have one, go out and run anyway. If you pull a 13.99 or faster, they will either ignore it or ask you to get a helmet. Borrow one from one of your friends at the track if you have to. The local track here usually doesn't get picky on the helmet until you're running 13.5 or lower. Personally, I think everyone should wear a helmet no matter how fast/slow they run.
Staging lanes -- there are multiple lanes. You'll see which lanes have street cars, which lanes have pro cars, and which lanes have bikes. Get in the street cars lane. At some point they will stop the street lanes and let the pro cars and bikes go before rotating back to the street cars.
Above all else ... watch! The first time I went out, I let the person in the other staging lane beside me do everything first. Then I just followed him. I watched where we went to go into the burnout area. I watched him drive to the staging beams, and then pulled up even with him. I left the tree late on my very first run so that I could get a feel for the track. The other driver was about 10 cars ahead at the end of the track, so I followed him through the turnoff and over to the timeslip booth. Watch and Learn!
If you can resist the temptation to run full throttle on your first run, try to do your first run at about 80% throttle. You need to run through the entire sequence of events first. Then, on your second run ... it's ***** to the wall!
And finally .. HAVE FUN ! That's the number one rule! Enjoy your car and the people at the track. That's the whole purpose of the track in the first place.
Unless you've changed your rear to 3.73, you won't finish in the top of 4th. You'll shift into 4th just before you hit the traps with the stock 3.42 rear.
Here's something I wrote up a while back. I hope it helps.
================
With street tires, drive around the water box. Don't get ANY of your tires in the water. When the guy gives you the signal, just turn the tires over once to clean the debris off of them and zip on up to the staging beams.
With slicks, there's a track attendant there to help guide you into the water box. He'll make sure your rear wheels are in the water. Get them wet, then pull forward to do your burnout. DO NOT DO YOUR BURNOUT IN THE WATER BOX! (pet peeve, sorry)
Hit the pre-stage light and then inch into the stage beam. It's a courtesy to pre-stage and wait for the other guy to pre-stage before staging .. but at a TnT night, nobody will really care.
When the tree starts coming down, go on the 3rd amber.
If you've got a M6 tranny, rev up to about 2700 and feather the clutch off the line. If you have the A4, hold the brake and rev it up to about 2,000 - 2,300. Experiment with these numbers to find the highest you can go before the tires break loose when you start off the line.
Don't worry about the reaction time or the tree since this is your first time. You can sit at the line 5 seconds and still run a good ET and trap speed. The timer starts when you leave, not when the light turns green.
When you go out there, all you need to worry about is finding the staging beams (look for a white box about two inches tall). Once you find the beams and get staged, go when you see the 3rd amber light as the tree comes down. If you redlight ... who cares?
At the other end of the track, you should pass two orange markers. Once you pass the 2nd one, you have completed the course and you're done. (I never saw the markers until the 3rd run ... I just kept my foot in the floor until I passed the signs with the times on them)
Once you clear the traps, let off the gas and ease a little on the brakes ... ease on ... ease off ... ease on ... etc ... you don't want to jab the brakes at 100 MPH.
Most tracks have 2 turnoffs. Don't even bother looking for the first one. Keep driving down to the end of the track and there should be a long sweeping turn. WATCH FOR THE OTHER DRIVER Don't ever cross into the other lane until the other driver has passed. If you are on the inside lane, the other driver should wait for you to turn off before he/she crosses over (unless they are WAAAAY ahead of you). But, you can't count on them watching for you ... this may be their first night, too.
Once you make the turnoff, head for the timeslip booth. Take your slip, (say thank you) and keep driving. DO NOT STOP AND LOOK AT YOUR SLIP! As soon as you passed the traps, the starter got the next pair up to the staging tree. They are about 20 seconds behind you .... don't stop in their way.
Head back to the pits or back to the staging lanes again. Now you can look at your time slip.
General stuff ---
Once you enter the gates of the motorsports park ... turn off the A/C and don't ever turn it back on until you leave for the night. Blower fan and heat are OK, but no A/C. You don't want to drip water condensation down the track.
Parking lights ... turn them on. Most tracks don't like you to have your headlights on, but they do want the parking lights. (If you have a Camaro with auto headlights and you haven't modded that yet ... the track will just have to get over it)
Windows up! You can have the windows down in the staging lanes, pits, turn off, etc ... but once you leave the staging lanes and head into the burnout box ... roll the windows up. Once I pass through the traps at the other end, I roll down the window. It gets stuffy in there!
Radio off. Turn it off. You don't need the distraction. After you've gotten the feel for the track and events, you can tune the radio to the track's PA system.-
Seat belt. This is a DUH item. Buckle up!
Helmet -- if you are running 13.99 or faster, most tracks require a helmet. If you don't have one, go out and run anyway. If you pull a 13.99 or faster, they will either ignore it or ask you to get a helmet. Borrow one from one of your friends at the track if you have to. The local track here usually doesn't get picky on the helmet until you're running 13.5 or lower. Personally, I think everyone should wear a helmet no matter how fast/slow they run.
Staging lanes -- there are multiple lanes. You'll see which lanes have street cars, which lanes have pro cars, and which lanes have bikes. Get in the street cars lane. At some point they will stop the street lanes and let the pro cars and bikes go before rotating back to the street cars.
Above all else ... watch! The first time I went out, I let the person in the other staging lane beside me do everything first. Then I just followed him. I watched where we went to go into the burnout area. I watched him drive to the staging beams, and then pulled up even with him. I left the tree late on my very first run so that I could get a feel for the track. The other driver was about 10 cars ahead at the end of the track, so I followed him through the turnoff and over to the timeslip booth. Watch and Learn!
If you can resist the temptation to run full throttle on your first run, try to do your first run at about 80% throttle. You need to run through the entire sequence of events first. Then, on your second run ... it's ***** to the wall!
And finally .. HAVE FUN ! That's the number one rule! Enjoy your car and the people at the track. That's the whole purpose of the track in the first place.
Nice, I think i saw the exact thign on a different web site from Texas?????
Registered User
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 1,122
From: Memphis, TN, USA
Originally posted by ProjectRS
Nice, I think i saw the exact thign on a different web site from Texas?????
Nice, I think i saw the exact thign on a different web site from Texas?????
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 492
From: AK Ron
Originally posted by rncotton
It's on my web site www.BlackWS6.com if you saw it anywhere else, they "borrowed" it from my site.
It's on my web site www.BlackWS6.com if you saw it anywhere else, they "borrowed" it from my site.
I "think" i saw it on ls1.com
Registered User
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 3
From: RTP, NC
Good luck man! Great write up too 
I went to the track for the first time last November. My first run, I did a 2.1 60' and ran 13.4 @ 102 or something close. I didn't realize I'd have to shift into 4th until I bounced off the rev limiter a few times
My second run... I couldn't hear anything over the Pro Stock guy in the next lane and for some reason my clutch didn't engage and I left a big cloud of smoke from 1st until 3rd Clutch seems OK, but that run (17 sec @ 93mph) was my last for the day. Beyond that, I had a great time!
I went to the track for the first time last November. My first run, I did a 2.1 60' and ran 13.4 @ 102 or something close. I didn't realize I'd have to shift into 4th until I bounced off the rev limiter a few times
My second run... I couldn't hear anything over the Pro Stock guy in the next lane and for some reason my clutch didn't engage and I left a big cloud of smoke from 1st until 3rd
Clutch seems OK, but that run (17 sec @ 93mph) was my last for the day. Beyond that, I had a great time!
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 492
From: AK Ron
well i wnet and i didnt do to well
I think the track needed some prep
You can see my times here : http://www.fbody.com/members/30thWS6/slips.htm
I think the track needed some prep
You can see my times here : http://www.fbody.com/members/30thWS6/slips.htm
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 221
From: Mission Viejo, CA
The goods news is you only will get better each time once your familarize yourself more with the car. What times were other LS1's running there? If everybody was running bad times then the track prep sucked that time.
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