Street car on the track - newbie questions

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demon322

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Will soon be attending a car show/bracket race event with my demon. Was at the same event last year but let my uncle drive the car.

I run BFG 275/60R15 on the rear. Is it safe/smart to drop the pressure for the trips down the strip? It spun quite a bit last year but we lowered pressure each time until finally we were around 17lb and it launched much better.

Also, water burnout? No burnout?

Sorry for the possibly obvious questions, just looking for some opinions. Thanks.
 
Will soon be attending a car show/bracket race event with my demon. Was at the same event last year but let my uncle drive the car.

I run BFG 275/60R15 on the rear. Is it safe/smart to drop the pressure for the trips down the strip? It spun quite a bit last year but we lowered pressure each time until finally we were around 17lb and it launched much better.

Also, water burnout? No burnout?

Sorry for the possibly obvious questions, just looking for some opinions. Thanks.
Go burn out, fun even if she doesn't hook!
 
If dropping the pressure helped last year I'd drop it again this year. The only way I'd use the water box with street tires would be to pull around it, then back into the edge of the water that had been tracked out of the box and do my burn out.

If it'll do a burn out with out water I'd do that and pull around the box.
 
Get some real tires. BFGs are the worst traction street tire in existence. Maybe pick up a used set of drag radials mounted on a spare set of rims just for drag race duty.
 
I've heard to drive around the water. The tread can carry water up to the starting line and you'll spin even worse. I always drop the pressure.
 
Keep in mind a lot of tracks won't let you in the groove with street tires so you may have to line up to one side or the other. They aren't picking on you just normal track guys trying to keep the groove in tact. Sometimes on "street tire" events they will put a cone in the lane and have you line up one side or other. Lower your tire pressure do a token burn out and have a blast. Remember if you tear something up and start leaking STOP do not run it all way to the end. Makes the track elfs cuss you profusely as they then have to clean a trail vs a puddle! Be safe
 
If dropping the pressure helped last year I'd drop it again this year. The only way I'd use the water box with street tires would be to pull around it, then back into the edge of the water that had been tracked out of the box and do my burn out.

If it'll do a burn out with out water I'd do that and pull around the box.
It did and hopefully 15-17 isn't too low. It only went around 77 in the 1/8th so speed shouldn't be an issue. I'll be sure to add the air back for the drive home ha.

That's a good idea about only using the water that has been tracked out of the box rather than the box itself.
 
Get some real tires. BFGs are the worst traction street tire in existence. Maybe pick up a used set of drag radials mounted on a spare set of rims just for drag race duty.
I hadn't heard that before. I have been very happy with my BFGs so far.

I briefly thought about a spare set of drag radials but most likely I would only go to the track 1-2 times/year so I am not sure I can justify the expense.
 
Keep in mind a lot of tracks won't let you in the groove with street tires so you may have to line up to one side or the other. They aren't picking on you just normal track guys trying to keep the groove in tact. Sometimes on "street tire" events they will put a cone in the lane and have you line up one side or other. Lower your tire pressure do a token burn out and have a blast. Remember if you tear something up and start leaking STOP do not run it all way to the end. Makes the track elfs cuss you profusely as they then have to clean a trail vs a puddle! Be safe
Good advice here. If something breaks I'll do my best to not leave a big trail to have to be cleaned up.

Like I said, the car ran in this event last year and they just let everyone run in the groove. Looking forward to my first trips down the strip. Hoping to at least run the same times it ran when my uncle drove it.

Thanks all for the replies.
 
Keep the burnout short, street tires get greasy if you heat them up too much. As others said, not a good tire for traction at the strip, but if you only race 1-2 times a year who cares, have fun, enjoy the track time.
 
Don't drop the tire pressure too much. On a radial tire carcass with low pressure, the center of the tread will cup inward at the hit. Your contact patch on the ground will have a hollow spot in the middle.

But I agree with the other posters who said to get a set of drag radials.
 
Dropping pressure (within a reasonable range) won't hurt anything, it's actually very common. Burnout would help as well but I would definitely pull around the water and back the rear tires into the water, after rear tires are wet, pull just out of the water and begin the burnout. The street front runners would hold water and carry the water to the tree, and possibly farther than that.
 
Dropping pressure (within a reasonable range) won't hurt anything, it's actually very common. Burnout would help as well but I would definitely pull around the water and back the rear tires into the water, after rear tires are wet, pull just out of the water and begin the burnout. The street front runners would hold water and carry the water to the tree, and possibly farther than that.
Will soon be attending a car show/bracket race event with my demon. Was at the same event last year but let my uncle drive the car.

I run BFG 275/60R15 on the rear. Is it safe/smart to drop the pressure for the trips down the strip? It spun quite a bit last year but we lowered pressure each time until finally we were around 17lb and it launched much better.

Also, water burnout? No burnout?

Sorry for the possibly obvious questions, just looking for some opinions. Thanks.
It depends on how much power you have and chassis set up plus transmission. If you have more than 350 / 400 hp street tires may be useless just go around the water and spin them just enough to clean them off and ease off the line you should be able to 60 foot under 2 seconds. Get to greedy at the start and all you will do is spin, good luck and have fun
 
Keep the burnout short, street tires get greasy if you heat them up too much. As others said, not a good tire for traction at the strip, but if you only race 1-2 times a year who cares, have fun, enjoy the track time.
Thanks. Looking forward to it.
 
Don't drop the tire pressure too much. On a radial tire carcass with low pressure, the center of the tread will cup inward at the hit. Your contact patch on the ground will have a hollow spot in the middle.

But I agree with the other posters who said to get a set of drag radials.
I hope to have time for some experimenting with pressures and launches on a backroad before we head to the track.

If I went more than I do now I would absolutely have a set of drag radials ready to go. I just can’t justify the cost for once or twice a year.
 
It depends on how much power you have and chassis set up plus transmission. If you have more than 350 / 400 hp street tires may be useless just go around the water and spin them just enough to clean them off and ease off the line you should be able to 60 foot under 2 seconds. Get to greedy at the start and all you will do is spin, good luck and have fun
Thanks. I think the best 60 foot last year was 2.07. Definitely got better as we dropped pressure, but I’m sure there would be a point where it is too much.

Fun is the name of the game here. And hopefully we can set up a grudge match with my dad in his satellite during time trials ha.
 
Mission accomplished. Got our grudge match, brought car home in one piece, and had a blast!

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We actually got to line up together a few times in tnt and time trials. He got me the first time but I edged him out on the others. My best pass was 8.92 @78.7 mph in the 1/8th
 
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