Newbie Starts

[ChronicReign]

Alright, I will be the first to admit that I am still a newb when it comes to racing. I have yet to take my truck out to the track, because honestly, I don't know how to start from the line yet.

All of my tries have been from a dead stop. I have tried just slamming the gas down, obviously that didn't work, I just spun.

So then I tried rolling into the gas, and putting it WOT at about 20mph, still I would fishtail back and forth.

Even at about 40mph if I slammed down the gas it felt like I was skiing. Whats the deal? How do I get a good start without spinning like a madman. I know traction bars would help, and so would slicks, but I want to be able to do it with what I got.

BTW, my mods are SCT Xcal2, Airraid intake, accufab throttlebody, 4# lower, straight pipes. I am running stock rims, and I just got Nitto 555DRs put on the back.

Any help? Thanks guys.

[Lyfisin]

I just went down the track for the first time. The advice I got from Rob Pantin (that I remember) was

1. Drive around the water.
2. Just spin the tires enough to clean them off.
3. Brake the truck and hold it at about 1000RPM.

The water and spinning will probably be different depending on the track and the kind of tires they are.

When I took off, I just quickly eased into it more and more. That's obviously something that's going to be a "feel" issue and every truck will be different.

I'm still running my original F1s and just have a chip/pulley/filter.

My last piece of input is don't listen to anything Brook has to say about racing. He's a noob.

[tiffo60]

i have the 555r's and I let the pressure down to 20psi, go around the wet box, do a burnout till smokes around the tail lights not a big one but more then cleaning them off, and stall up to about 1200 and when the third yellow its its balls out :tu:

[QDRHRSE]

I haven't raced my L yet but I have been racing cars for long time. There are a lot of ways to look at it. I always like a little tire spin. Too much traction always leads to broken parts.

The first 60' feet of your pass is really important so you need some traction. Judging by how my L feels on the street, I would roll off the line gently and nail it once I got out of the gate. It seems to me that you tried that and are uncomfortable with the truck getting loose. You have 2 options: drag tires or getting use to the truck drifting a little. Drag tires have a softer sidewall and produce a gentle drifting sensation as well.

[BC Lightning]

I first put the slicks on, move your mirrors to where I can see the rear tires, check add/drop pressure to around 17 psi depending on how hot or cold they are, load my race tune, shoot the S*** with other TALON members that are there, get in my truck and drive to the staging lanes, then drive through the water box, hold the brake pedal down and switch to my line loc button, hold that down and begin to spin the tires (I prefer the John Force burnout), let go of the line loc and come down from the high rpm, pull up to the line, stall up the tranny to about 2,500 rpm and wait for the 3rd yellow light to come on, as soon as I see the third yellow light come on I mash the gas and hang on, and end up running faster but losing to True Blue Mike :hammer:

Of course this is with Hoosier slicks, when I used to race street/DR's I would feather it out of the hole and get a feeling on how much gas to put into it. sometimes you hook right away, sometimes you spin all the way down the track

[Beaudee]

I need to take mine to the track too.The best tire warm up has got to be Rocks 10 sec. run. http://www.talonclub.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8257&highlight=sec

[03LightningRocks]

..........SNIP............ I have yet to take my truck out to the track, ............SNIP.........


Now in my humble opinion....the reason for the tire spin problems lie in the quote above.

The track IS going to hook alot better then the street. All of the sugestions mention will help...but quite frankly, my truck will spin it's ass off at any speed I floor it on the street.


Rocks

[True Blue Aggie]

...as soon as I see the third yellow light come on I mash the gas and hang on, and end up running faster but losing to True Blue Mike :hammer: ......

Well at least you are getting use to it....:nana2

[03LightningRocks]

Well at least you are getting use to it....:nana2

It almost sounds like he enjoys it....:eek: .

[BC Lightning]

It almost sounds like he enjoys it....:eek: .

It's not that I enjoy it, it's just that he makes it out to the track more than I do, and is alot better at the lights. I feel that I'm getting better though and ready for our next race :evil

[ChronicReign]

Thanks for all the help. I want to get out to a track and see what I can do. Next time you are all going out to the track give me a holler, I would love to go out there and see what I can do.