lower tire pressure rear(raise front)
take off front sway bar
premium gas
clean spark plugs
ice intake manifold
clean air filter


what else is there i can do? to get traction, less weight or anything to save time.

thanks

 

Assuming you are talking about legitimate, sanctioned, safe racing at a real drag strip, I'll move this to the appropriate forum.

 

>lower tire pressure rear(raise front)

Not unless you're running slicks. Street tires work best in the 32-35 psi range. Front tires can go up to 45 spi to reduce rolling resistance. Just make sure you let the extra air back out before going home.

>take off front sway bar

Yes. Removes weight from the front of the car.

>premium gas

Only if the engine pings under WOT operation. You only need as much octane to eliminate detonation. Any more octane is just a waste of money.

>clean spark plugs

New ones depending how old they are. New cap, rotor and wires is good also.

>ice intake manifold

Don't bother. Unless it takes an hour between rounds, you'll never get the intake cold enough to make any difference.

>clean air filter

Buy a K&N.

Leave everything you don't need at home. Spare tire, jack etc. You can take out the back seat but there isn't much weight saving there. Unbolt and remove the passenger seat if you really want to strip some weight off.

 

what else can you remove to take weight off. would striping the interior help. take every thing out but the drivers seat and dash? what about under the hood. like heater box, ac stuff, help me out i need ideas.

 

Race on a full tank of gas, it will help your 60' significantly. My car wont hook up at the track with anything less than 3/4 tank. Also contrary to what Stephen says, I lower air pressure in my tires to 25 PSI (BFG Radial T/A tires). They spin like crazy any higher (or lower). The best way to tell what your tires like is to do a small burnout and take a look at the tire marks that were left. If the center of the mark is severely faded or non existant, you have taken too much air out.

 

It depends on how streetable the car has to be. If it's track only there's a lot that can be removed. Anything that doesn't contribute to making the car go fast can be removed.

My car is completely gutted and can never be a street car again. I run a BBC, have a 12 point cage and race weight sitting on the starting line waiting to go down the track is 3042. +/- 10 pounds or so.

 

well the car will be driven on the street. i only go to the track about once a year. the only reason i go is because of a thing that the town that has the strip puts on. so it doesn't bother me to pull every thing possible then put i back in if i only go once a year. any more help would be nice.

 

Keeping it streetable means you're not going to be able to remove very much to shave off weight. About the only thing you can easily remove and reinstall is the passenger and rear seats and the front sway bar. You can take your wipers off if you want. That should save about a 1/4 pound.

What you're going to save by trying to remove all this stuff might gain an extra .1 on the 1/4 mile. A brief head wind will give it all back.

Doing worry about trying to go fast. Make the car run the same each time first. Invest in a set of slicks and SFC.

 

take out the back folding part of the back seat... dont bother reinstalling, its actually more roomy and comfortable back there with just the bottoms, lol.

bring a 13mm socket and a ratchet... you can take off the passenger seat easily.

have a flange put on the muffler... then just remove the muffler when you get to the strip.


play with tire pressure... generally street radials like to be anywhere from 20 to 35psi, drag radials like 12-20, bias ply race tires usually like 10-20..


have someone with a video camera next to you on launch... see where the car needs help, sometimes a outside perspective helps.... do the same with someone behind you to see if you actually go straight.

 

I have to say, icing the intake between runs really does help. I have seen an easy 10th from doing this. It is cheap enough and easy enough to do that I recommend it. Now if they are running you round robin style and you get about 5 minutes to cool, it isnt as worth it, but it will still be better then no ice!

Any weight is good to remove (better if off the nose). Its free and helps!