[focusdarko]

So tonite was my first time at the drag strip, and i was kinda nervous because i always am when im about to race. Im in South Florida so its humid all the time and i was a little shocked at the times i was running, i was hoping for something better but with the mods i have i guess its quiet common. My friend kept telling me that i need to get my 60 foot times down and ill run better. Hopefully next time ill do better and ill have some more power mods to get me there.

R/T: .249
60': 2.726
330: 7.426
1000: 14.470
1/4: 17.245
MPH: 80.95

again this was my first time and i dont really street race so any feedback on what you guys think is welcome.

 

[kenpokid]

well, first of all, you don't need to street race to know how to drag race. It isn't the same.

Your friend is right about the 60' time. If you drop it by 1/10th, that is 2/10ths in the quarter.

If you have the 5-speed manual, then you need to practice slipping the clutch. Don't worry about reaction time, it doesn't affect your E.T. They have that for bracket racing. Basically, the idea is to get very little wheelspin, as low as possible. So slipping the clutch out or powerbraking an automatic will help.

With regards to your mods...you won't see much more than a mid-low 16 at about 83-85mph if you have a 5-speed. If you have an auto, then high 16s will be your best bet.

 

[eazyrider_tim]

YEAH, those times you are running seems to be my best also. What mods do you have. At least I know I am as fast as a manual, and you are a 3-door at that....let me know.

Look at my sig, you are not alone....there was my exact same car, manual, ran a 17.1.....I didn't know our times were so slow.....the ST with out group ran a best of 15.2 I think. He was the only one that got traction right off the bat. I kept spinning like a mofo...which is stupid because I don't have a lot of engine mods.

 

[eazyrider_tim]

[8D]

 

[focusdarko]

im a manual with exhaust and intake

 

[nomoreavril]

you dont know what your 1/8 mile was do you?

 

[kenpokid]

YEAH, those times you are running seems to be my best also. What mods do you have. At least I know I am as fast as a manual, and you are a 3-door at that....let me know.

yea, but he has a zetec...you have a D20. Both of you should be in the 16s and the auto D20 should be able to keep up with a manual zetec.

To the thread starter: What RPM were you shifting at and were you granny shifting or speed shifting? I shift at about 6 grand, or shoot for it. And I flat shift or speed shift when I am at the track. I don't lift my foot off the gas and I blip the clutch when I shift.

 

[UB!!]

ouch

 

[focusdarko]

no the time slip didnt post my 1/8th mile.
well my rpms are a little off cus i changed my guages when i was dumb and 16, so i shifted at what showed almost 7000 rpm, which if ive paid attention i think is 6000 or so rpms. i shift hard and quick, actually i shifted so hard on my last run into 2nd gear that i broke the base of the shifter, i snapped the front part in half on both sides. Yeah kinda sucky. need to get that replaced with something better if there is something out there or just fixed.
so your saying that when you shift into another gear you never remove your foot of the gas and just press clutch and shift gears? am i right? why do you that and not lift you foot off?

 

[nomoreavril]

see thats why i dont like manual transmissions....theres too many ways to do 1 thing and i dont know any of them.

 

[sleepyboy]

Ok when I went to the track I had to rev the piss out of my car it stops making any real power at 5500rpms but to make a good time I had to rev the dog piss out of it 6500rpm no lower. I ran a 15.8 95+degrees outside. The key to it was the launch I really had to slip the clutch you just could'nt dump it at all or all you would do is spin. 15.8 at 85mph I could'nt shift into 4th I had to keep it in 3rd screaming acrossing the finish line I even hit the rev limiter on one run I thought that would be my fastest but it was'nt the launch wasnt good. I also ran my car like 25 times there were'nt that many people there I ran it back to back first time drag racing at a track and let me tell you practice definitly make perfect. The mods I have are a cone airfilter (which fell off most of the runs the best run was the one that I made sure it was on so I think thats why I could;nt break into the 15's I was running constiant 16.1 2 3"s) 4-2-1 race header and magna flow exahaust and a ported TB. My first run ever I ran a 16.3.

I bet I could have gotten better times if I only would have checked under the hood. The air filter was lying across the MAF so it was half blocking but all well there is always next time.

 

[kenpokid]

no the time slip didnt post my 1/8th mile.
well my rpms are a little off cus i changed my guages when i was dumb and 16, so i shifted at what showed almost 7000 rpm, which if ive paid attention i think is 6000 or so rpms. i shift hard and quick, actually i shifted so hard on my last run into 2nd gear that i broke the base of the shifter, i snapped the front part in half on both sides. Yeah kinda sucky. need to get that replaced with something better if there is something out there or just fixed.
so your saying that when you shift into another gear you never remove your foot of the gas and just press clutch and shift gears? am i right? why do you that and not lift you foot off?

I don't lift my foot off the gas because I don't want the RPMs to drop between shifts. If they drop, I lose time and speed. I sometimes even barely lift on the throttle when speed shifting and I can still get the RPMs to stay up when the clutch engages.

When I shift, I shoot for 6000 but I usually catch 6300 and it seems to work the best. Anything past that, I can feel the cams drop off. I do have timing on my side though. When I am at that RPM at WOT, I am pushing about 37 degrees.

 

[sleepyboy]

well my rpms stay up anyway due to the heavy @$$ flywheel ford put on the focus but I do have a CF clutch. And my cams drop off at 5500rpm but the only way to make a good time was to rev the dog crap out of it 6500rpm no less. Oh I can see why you have a slipping clutch if you don't lift and just power shift. But I shift very fast and I let off and back on in s split second. I can bark the tires in going from 2nd to 3rd. The clutch and lower motor/tranny mount help in this department too.

 

[kenpokid]

My clutch, I think, slips past 5K because my power starts to drop off...but other than that it is fine. It just feels mushy and worn. It is the stock clutch with almost 60K on it. Surprised it has lasted this long.

I shift like you do on the street...but at the track, I flat shift. I have the lower tranny mount, and can spin in second and barely chirp third.

 

[focusdarko]

well i can chirp second the way i shift, and my filter came off my intake on the second run i had too.

 

[sleepyboy]

I'm pissed cause the whole time I was running my filter was blocking the MAF so I could have ran in the 15's alot sooner than I did. My 15 second run was my second to last run I had to get home it was about to get dark too so the temps were going to go down real fast but I had to leave makes mad when I think about it.

 

[zetecfreak]

A lot of Factors come in to play. Driver being the biggest, wheel size and elevation not far behind.
Example. I ran a 15.85 at Norwalk in OHio at 90 degree wheather. At bristol, with 100degree wheather and higher elevation the best I could do was a 16.15. I also changed from my 17in Euro stars to stock 15's and cut 3 tenths(at bristol only). So, I could have run a 15.5 at Norwalk and could barely run a 16.15 at bristol.

Driver Example. I out ran a SVT by 4 tenths of a secound at Bristol. Thats a lot, my mods are all the Bolt-Ons and a tune (no cam gears). I dont know if I should have been that far ahead or not, I know I can keep up, and maybe out run, but 4 tenths is over 4 cars.

 

[nomoreavril]

whats flat shift

 

[kenpokid]

whats flat shift

"Flat" meaning keeping your accelerating foot to the floor or FLAT, and blipping the clutch when you shift. If done right, the car will lay down better track times. Basically, you don't lift your foot off the gas pedal all the way down the track.

 

[nomoreavril]

thats crazy i would be scared to try that(i have an atx ...but i drive my moms escort zx2 5 speed)