Well I went up to the 1/4 mile for the first time on Friday...
I think I did reasonably well for having V700 Escta tires on... 12.60 @113/114

Anyways, I have heard of people disconnecting the front sway bar helps the car hook. Question is - does this still work on cars with independant rear suspension?

Shocks - what settings would you recommend? soft? hard?

Looking forward to getting some drag radials for next year

What is this thing you speak of? Racing in drag?

Drag racing is where you have a standing start each time and race like mad to turn one ... then it's over.

well, your motor, tranny and driveshaft are all twisting in one direction trying to push the car forward.. well, the normal force of the car resists the forward motion, so all of the rotating mass has a tendency to lean the car to one side since the motor is directly connected to the frame...

when the front of the car wants to lean, the front sway bar resists and has a tendency to keep the car flatter.. disconnecting the front sway bar will allow one side of the front of the car to lift up more and end up transfering more weight to the rear

so regardless of rear suspension, the idea that disconnecting the front sway bar will help you hook up should still be possible


those are a good numbers for a stock C5(?).. you're pretty much at the limit of the stock clutch as far as 60' times.. more weight transfer or drag radials will probably just burn up your clutch

60' was 2.0.... road race tires (pretty much) not conducive to launching (stiff sidewalls).
front bar is larger... 32 hollow instead of 30 hollow - also not conducive to drag racing. air filter is synthetic

You're probably right about drag radials going to make my clutch not last very long... and as Danny says "that's the only thing they won't let me replace"...

Maybe after a few more times it will get boring. Other than the drag radials & disconnecting my front bar there isn't anything I can do to make it quicker and still have the car SS legal.

that's pretty good for your first time..

i've never had any experience driving a corvette, but i know that 1.9second 60' times were pretty easy to get in my old 2000 Z28(street tires)...
and since corvettes are about 200-400lbs lighter than f-bodies, i bet you can squeeze out a 1.8second 60' time with your current setup

i always found that when i had good 60' times, the rest of the ride was pretty boring... when you hook up nicely, your mph goes down :thumbdown:... i always wanted to go faster and didn't care much about how soon i got to the 1/4 mile mark

You can also bump up your front tire pressures to reduce rolling resistance.

If you have adjustable shocks, go soft on the front to allow for more weight transfer.

I think the two main reasons for removing the front bar are that is is useless weight on the nose and it may limit droop travel of the front suspension (it definitely limits travel on an fbody). Reducing the front rebound stiffness may help too.

FWIW, my stock LS6 clutch was holding up fine with Victoracers, but my first launch with fresh Nitto road race tires (which clearly show their drag radial heritage) on decent pavement totally fried the clutch. That wasn't even on glue.

MHO, if you're just "experimenting" with racing in heels, stay with the V710s and don't try anything to make it hook up better. Otherwise, you WILL buy a better clutch and move to ASP or SM2, and then you will have to start buying lots of other stuff.

BTW, it could be argued that skirt racing (very different from skirt chasing) is a valid means of engine testing and tuning, and of course practicing launch technique (if you leave it set up for autocross at the strip). I believe both Sam and Lou take a walk on the wild side every now and then.

Now drag track and field, THAT would be a sport - especially the hurdles.

It's fun to do occasionally, but us solid axle types have to be careful w/ the stock rear. I've gone a few times for kicks and to quiet a few challenges among friends.

If you are going for your ultimate low ET, get a set of front drag shocks. They are cheap enough. Or, you can just find a set of junk factory front shocks, drill a hole in the side and drain the oil out. I used to run those on my 72 T/A to get the weight to transfer better.

Additionally, as Rob says, more air pressure in the fronts to reduce rolling resistance. Better yet, get a set of skinnier tires for the front, that also reduces drag.

Don't forget to go with a full tank for gas for more weight in the back for traction.

If you are just doing it for fun, and to practice launches, you might just want to go in full autocross or roadracing trim to see how low you can go. You can still put down impressive times with just tuning the launch technique and upshifts.

drag shocks are out of the question. If I run my car nationally next year I want a set of Koni SA's.

I did cut a .518 light on my first run.... but I've run 4 ProSolo's this year so I have some experience with the trees

Best 60' time with autocross/roadrace tires i've seen is 1.9 by Erik Strelnieks, best I've been able ot get is 2.0. I figure drag radials will cut the 60' time down quite a bit.

On my automatic Camaro, my 60' times are like this:

Stock tires 2.15
18" GS-D3 2.05
BFG drag radials 1.85

Haven't been able to try the ET Streets yet, I killed it on the first home-tuning run back in the spring after the turbo install, and haven't rebuilt it yet.

I have some fun with it a few times a year. If you think about it, AutoX and most other racing starts with a standing start so it pays to practice. I do know that when I used to race bikes, my drag racing experience really helped on the starts. It's alot better to pass folks on the start rather than wasting time trying to pass them later.

Bone stock {around 1K miles} I pulled a 13.40@104 with a 1.90 60ft in 80-90 degree temps at Bristol. Tires were the stock Firestone Firehawks. I later added a set of drag radials, a LID and a few free mods and cut a 12.96@108 in about the same temps but at a sea level track. I added an UD pulley, ET Streets and 4.10 gears and my times dropped to a 12.60@109mph. I now have a cam and headers and have run a 12.40@114mph in bad conditions.

I run ET Streets and try to keep my 60fts in the 1.80 range. I have had plenty of 1.80 60fts with no damage to the axle but I do admit that I get worried when I drop into the 1.70s. If I do drop into the 1.70s, I add air in order to get some tire spin. I had the stock clutch last me 40K miles and in that 40K miles I put something like 250 1/4 mile passes and dern near the same amont of AutoX passes. As long as I let the clutch cool down between passes, it was OK,,, not happy mind you, just OK. Once I added the headers and cam, the clutch could not take the power and would slip at full throttle.

I pull the front sway bar, let all the rebound out of the front Konis and generally run with abot a 1/4 tank of fuel. I also used to swap out the front wheels for a set of 16s but since I added the C5 front rotors which require at least 17s. My 17s are heavy and wide 315s.

Like I said, it's something that's fun to do a couple of times a year.

I agree with Judd, the standing starts in autocross helped my drag times.

In my V6 on worn 245 width Kumho 712's, I got 60' times in 2.1's the only time I went. Well before I did any rear suspension mods and a few intake/exhaust mods.

I went last week for the first time. Traction did not exist !
I was on kumho 295/35/18 mx street tires, it tossed the tires off repeatedly while I was going through the traps in fourth .
The track is at 2200 feet above sea level.

Here's a vid of qualifying.

http://media.putfile.com/merace18

I won the heads up outlaw class on street tires .

It was fun, but they gave me heck for taking the turnoff to the return road too fast