Thread about running your car on the 1/4 mile (from ROTORSTOCK Chit Chat)

[ScuttleRX]

Next year, how about a few more people actually running down the strip, even if only a couple of times?

Yeah if there were a few more FD\'s in the queue i might not have had to keep getting my ass kicked by the bedford van!

Commentators words \'heres the van running against, oh i believe its the same car back for more punishment! rematch, rematch!\'

[20B_boy]

Originally posted by davefrith
The guy in the beetle springs to mind

Bang on Dave, this guy is a regular there. I love that car as was having a sniff around it just before the street fighter bit was going off. His mate was trying to explain what was happening and that RWYB wasnt doing at the moment. From the little I could gather he appeared to be moaning and bitching about how his bug was pulling 11s which was quicker than most of the cars there and that he\'d paid his money etc etc

I presume its the same format i.e. RWYB for the public during most of the events at Shakespeare? cause when we went up for the BIG (I mean BIG - it was totally packed, you had to fight for a bit of room to park - and there were loads of 12-11-10-9 and a few 8-second cars running all day). Including matey boy in his bug again.

[davefrith]

Originally posted by 20B_boy
Bang on Dave, this guy is a regular there. I love that car as was having a sniff around it just before the street fighter bit was going off. His mate was trying to explain what was happening and that RWYB wasnt doing at the moment. From the little I could gather he appeared to be moaning and bitching about how his bug was pulling 11s which was quicker than most of the cars there and that he\'d paid his money etc etc

I presume its the same format i.e. RWYB for the public during most of the events at Shakespeare? cause when we went up for the BIG (I mean BIG - it was totally packed, you had to fight for a bit of room to park - and there were loads of 12-11-10-9 and a few 8-second cars running all day). Including matey boy in his bug again.

ah you were listening to his little tantrum as well then

I heard
"i\'ll move now but I\'ll be back in a minute to show them all how to drive"

ito be honest it wasn\'t his fault really, shakespeare had obviously not advertised the MRC event all all to regular customers who had turned up for the RWYB


Dave

[J4P RX]

Surely people cant be worried about their engines?  The convoy was loads more brutal than running the strip would of been!

I think it just comes down to the same old thing it normally does on here which is not that many people are really prepared to use their cars properly

Ive given up on getting people on track, theres only about 3 or 4 people who are always up for it out of hundreds of members!

[davefrith]

not going on track i can kind of understand, cost is probably the only factor stopping people, theres no other reason not to use their sports car

Next year for the vent to be more popular, people need to give the strip a go, if its blows up on the strip then it will blow up on the road sooner or later anyway

[Archbish]

I dunno - I know of more FD\'s blowing on the strip than blowing on the roads mile...  In a matter of 4 hours, pink panther and max\'s motors both popped.  If there was that sort of failure rate on the road, the specialists wouldn\'t be able to keep up!!!

That\'s why I suggested the support for next year!  I\'ve never been down the strip, and didn\'t this year for a couple of (what I consider) good reasons!!  If a sticky was created offering preparation advice for a day at the strip, and techniques that may help noobies, that would be invaluable.  I would definitely be more confident of having a go...  ((If the car had been mapped I would have had a go - but I\'ve been buggin people for weeks about the 1/4...!!))

Geff, Ross, Carl, Rich, Tim, Clive, Glenn and the regular strippers - could you please just stick up a new thread explaining:
- prep before the day
- prep on the day
- how to launch
- when to change gear
- things to look out for before stripping
- myths... (will it break this, that or the other, etc)
and finally - the worst things you\'ve seen/experienced (mainly of the humiliation side) so we know whatever happens, you experienced racers have done it to...!!

[davefrith]

Its fairly simple, start car, drive to line, light goes green, you drive to the other end as quickly as possible

its not really more complicated, obviously you should be confident your car is running right etc, but shouldn\'t you be driving on the roads as well

I am sure everyone here has nailed it in the 2nd and 3rd on the road

[John Yorke]

The more this type of event happens the more people will be inclined to have a go. As Rich says it is a buzz and is safe -rather than risking it on the road.
From reading the posts today I would say most everyone enjoyed the day and it is great that we all came away with a grin and I have only seen constructive comments.
Maybe it is time to start planning the next one Clive [grin]

[davefrith]

Originally posted by John Yorke
The more this type of event happens the more people will be inclined to have a go. As Rich says it is a buzz and is safe -rather than risking it on the road.
From reading the posts today I would say most everyone enjoyed the day and it is great that we all came away with a grin and I have only seen constructive comments.
Maybe it is time to start planning the next one Clive [grin]

agreed well said

[Martiny]

I CAN understand people running the track and not the strip. the track, if you ask me, is easier on the car than the strip. Yes, you will use up Tyres, and perhaps find the limit of your brakes.

You can do good lap times and still be reasonably gentle on the mechanicals, by being smooth. In fact, being smooth is one way of going quick.

The strip is going to shock your side shafts, diff, gearbox, and the diff, gearbox and engine mountings. Not to mention the clutch!!

I prefer the track, where the driving ( or at least driving around CORNERS) is the important thing, not how many mods you have.

What I dont get is guys spending tons of cash on mods and not doing either,  but then - each to their own , eh?  ;-)

[bobster]

Running the strip will put more stress on the car as the airflow is not constant. The temps I was hitting on the strip were quite scarey. Mostly due to sitting waiting in the que when something went wrong. My 2 fastest times were actually my 2 safest runs in the car. If I am running my car next year I will certainly be upgrading the cooling system.

Sorry to hear about the blown motors. Robertio and I weren\'t sure what had happened when we saw Max\'s car sitting at the gate on the way out.

[davefrith]

true, but are our cars really that fragile ?

[Archbish]

Hmmm - I don\'t generally try and get to over 100 mph from 0 after holding the car for a few minutes with the engine running on the road.  50mph onwards, yep, but I don\'t think I\'ve had foot to floor all the way through for over 12 seconds...

And without checking the water and oil, just turning up and throwing it down the strip seems pretty expensive...!!!  

There are going to be tricks and ideas the experienced are going to be aware of that I for one am not.  Fensport spent the whole time spraying the engine with water (I assume it was water), and I have to assume all those running good times had factors and mods that made the engines more secure than not.  The strip IS different to running on the road.  There\'s more traction, and you\'re dumping the clutch at high rev\'s, and as bobster says, his intake temps were high...

[moakesr]

100% agree with that comment.

I have hardly ever used WOT on my car, yet I can get from A to B very quickly, I try to be as smooth as possible and only use as much boost as is required for each specific situation.

I will be trying a track this year, if I can find a circuit with generous run off space. I like the idea of drag racing, however as every event is at least 150 miles away from where I live, I don\'t fancy a long trip home courtesy of the AA after a quick blast down a drag strip.

If you want people to risk their prized possessions, then information, encouragement and advise is needed. Don\'t berate us for not using our cars, we all get our kicks from our RX\'s in different ways.

Richard

Originally posted by Martiny
I CAN understand people running the track and not the strip. the track, if you ask me, is easier on the car than the strip. Yes, you will use up Tyres, and perhaps find the limit of your brakes.

You can do good lap times and still be reasonably gentle on the mechanicals, by being smooth. In fact, being smooth is one way of going quick.

The strip is going to shock your side shafts, diff, gearbox, and the diff, gearbox and engine mountings. Not to mention the clutch!!

I prefer the track, where the driving ( or at least driving around CORNERS) is the important thing, not how many mods you have.

What I dont get is guys spending tons of cash on mods and not doing either,  but then - each to their own , eh?  ;-)

[ScuttleRX]

The temps I was hitting on the strip were quite scarey

Know what you mean, my first few runs my air temp was starting in the 60\'s, hitting 80\'s by end of run.

Which is why later on you might have seen me pushing car to start line with the bonnet up i was more worried about my temp after a combination of that and then wearing long sleeves and helmet http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008\' target=\'_blank\'>http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/28/28_1_9.gif\' alt=\'Sweating\' border=0>

It was starting on around 45 then going up to 60 by end