Drag racing/tips and techniques

Andrew/USPWR

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I've only ran my 2000 GTS a half dozen times and I'm getting 12.8 @ 113 mph.
Any tips or technique from the veteran Viper drivers?

Andrew





2000 GTS Steel Grey
Six piston Bier claws up front, front brakes in back, Quaife Differential, GKH half shafts, alloy fly wheel, short throw shifter, polished intakes, K&N air filters, Optima battery,
Not a clue what to do with it all now.
 

Vip-RT10

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Hey Andrew,seems like you are doing well. What I noticed is try not to get the tires to spin, so feather the throttle. People say to try to improve your 60' times, it should be like 2.0 secs or so. That is all relevant to me, if you don't have slicks, how can you improve the times, right? Another area is reaction time.
 
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Andrew/USPWR

Andrew/USPWR

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Hey Vip, My 60' times are 2.171 and 2.272. I'd like to just perfect running the car on stock tires and stock engine. I here people saying there getting low 12's or high 11's which would be great for me.
 

Saleen-Explorer

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I'm guessing you most likely are running at Moroso. Get your 60 ft down to at least a 2.0, but your mph and et sound really low. My friend has ran his ACR at Moroso a few times and he cranked off 12.2 at 118 with arounda 1.9-2.0 60ft I think.

Your mph makes it seem like your short shifting (which I doubt) or something is wrong. For what it's worth my other friend cranked off 12.7 at 112 mph in his 03' Cobra when it was stock on his 1st few runs there...and we all know the Viper is quicker so.
 

SilverViperGTS

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1.8 is possible on street tires. Just lower the rear tire pressure to 20 psi. Shift until 4th gear @ 5,500rpm maximum. Rev the engine between 1,500 and 3,000rpm and feather the throttle in 1st while you're slipping the clutch at the same time.

High 11s @ 118-119mph is your ultimate goal with a stock GTS.

Good luck!!
 

MaxedGTS

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Tom BTR has earned my respect about drag racing.
he put his mouth were it belongs on the drag strip and delivers :cool: He's got a video on drag racing. you should check it out

Max
 

NascarDave

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Andrew,
At Gateway International last weekend, I ran a 11.68 at 119 on pilots with a 1.7 60' time. I don't think this is typical as the track was very sticky, temp was 70, overcast with a gentle breeze. I do have factory half-shafts and fully expected one to go, but, it didn't. I launched at 4000 feathering the clutch a little, then banged through the gears at 5-5300. Into 4th at 4500 or so. no wheel spin or hopping.

Hope that helps,

DN
 

FE 065

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If you're just doing testing, and not racing someone for the Win or Lose, don't worry about cutting it as close as you can just before the light goes green. Your ET doesn't start until the car moves.

Just go when the light turns green...,concentrate on perfecting your starting techniques, and when they are as good as can be, then worry about being first off the line.

If you can do a short burn-out in the pits or in the staging lanes (just enough to put some rubber on the pavement) and look at your tread mark(s) on the pavement, you can adjust your air pressure accordingly....

1. If the tread mark on the pavement is darker in the center than on the outside edges, you have too much air pressure.

2. If the tread mark on the pavement is darker on the edges than on the edges,you have too little air in your tires :)
 

Dr Roof

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Tom welch with BTR performance has a excellent Video for beginners and experienced Drag Racers. He sponsors this sight and you can link his websight to order. it can really help you out!

his car run's 9's all day and he is a great driver!
 
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Andrew/USPWR

Andrew/USPWR

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Fantastic advice from everyone, Thanks.

Last night I had 22 psi in the rear tires. I'd heard you can spin the tire on the rim if the pressure is to low. I'm running in the sportsmen class, so I think I'm one of the fastest out there, but I just want to do my fellow Viper owners proud. Everyone is expecting the Viper to kill every thing else on the track and so do I.
Thanks for all the advise to us rookies, anymore?






2000 GTS Steel Grey
Six piston Bier claws up front, front brakes in back
Quaife Differential, GKH half shafts, alloy fly wheel,
short throw shifter, polished intakes, K&N air filters, Optima battery,
 

fuelman

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Andrew,

I have 2001 GTS, thus my motor is a "creampuff" like yours with the cast pistons. Before the supercharger I found my best times by shifting at 6000 rpm on the factory tach. Some people will tell you 5200-5400 rpm, which I think works well for the 1999 and older forged piston motors. The cam in that motor was more aggressive and I think the motor made better torque down low than our motors. The advice about slipping the clutching , rather than dumping it is good advice, you may find that loading up to 3000 rpm still blows the tires off though. Rear tires to 20 psi and fronts to atleast 40 psi will help also. Good luck.
 

Tom Welch

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Thanks for the plug Max and Roof!

The track conditions play a major role in your e.t., and if you are racing at Moroso, it usually has decent traction.

Try a few simple things;

1. Rear tire pressure at about 23 psi
2. Front tire pressure at 29-35 psi
3. Full tank of gas (weight behind the back tire is helping you)
4. Remove air filters at track
5. Always shift into 4th gear, shift points should not be higher than 5600 rpm
6. Don't drive through the water box with stock tires, water will get caught in the treads and gravitate to the pavement right on the starting line where you do not need a puddle.
7. clutch managment is key to 60' times..my best on stock tires results from slightly slipping the clutch from about 2500 rpm as i work the gas pedal to keep the nose of the car up transferring weight without boiling the tires.....a balancing act for sure.

Best of luck.

Tom
 

Snakester

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Thanks for the excellent tips Tom.

Andrew,

One point is not to beat yourself up when your times don't match the best times of experienced drivers. The better times come with lots of practice.

I had my best luck so far running at 24psi, and revving to around 2000rpm and feathering the gas. I can't imagine taking off at 4000RPM on stock Pilots, as our local tracks have poor prep and the tires spin at 2K, and badly in 2nd, so it shows how much the track grip varies.

Have fun.:D

-Dean.
 

plumcrazy

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I had a real problem launching my 98 close to stock GTS last week. the 60' was 2.447, 1/4 mile was 13.029 and MPH was decent at 115.56.

I wasnt worrying about RT's as I was more worried about learning. leave the lites to the guys who know what their doing. just worry about the launch.

but I spun the first 30 feet it looks like. I also chirped every shift. but if I get that down pat I can do better i think. gonna go tomorrow nite to Etown and see what happens.
 

Mike Brunton

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I will be the **** and disagree with some of the advice here :)

Personally I have only gone slower when I messed around with tire pressure. Maybe drop a couple of pounds if you like but going to 20psi or less is too low, IMO. At that point you just start buckling the tires and get LESS tread area. My best 60' times were in the 1.6 range on stock MXX3's at 29psi. I could consistently get below 2.0, even on a crappy track or even on the street. Just gotta be judicious with the clutch. Launch at 2800-3000RPM and use the clutch to modulate wheelspin (to where you get almost none). If the car bogs at *all* you just lost a tenth or two - should be ZERO bog - none, zip, nada.

You gotta shift FAST. On a 95 degree, super humid day in July I could run 116mph trap speeds. Usually around 119-119.5, and on a cool day I could get into the 120's, with a best of 121.0mph. The car was pretty much stock - smooth tubes and home-made rear-muffler delete and nothing more. Dynoed at 414RWHP. The trick to the MPH is to SHIFT QUICKLY. You're shifting too slow, which kills your MPH. If you shift slowly, you're going to lose 2-3mph without question. You need to clutch in-shift-clutch out in LESS than 1/4 second, quicker if possible. People standing trackside should not hear a shift, just a constant revving sound. If you can hear the shift, you're shifting too slow.

I also say rev the thing higher than 5600. I would rev right to 6000 before I shifted. And always, always, always, ALWAYS go into 4th. You will only slow down if you don't.

I could hit the 11's consistently on a decently prepped track, and my MPH never was below 116-117, even in bad weather. On a cool night, it was always above 120mph. My best ET was 11.68 and best mph was 121... an "average" run would be 12.0-12.1@119-120 or so. ANY Viper, on a 70-degree day, low humidity, sea-level or at least less than 1000' DA, will run a 12.0@119mph.
 

J DAWG

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Tom, never thought about the gas tank being full. Always tried to do the opposite. Thanks for all the tips.
 

GTSnake

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Doesn't having too much weight slow you down? Or is traction more important than speed?
 
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Andrew/USPWR

Andrew/USPWR

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Lots of info and very appreciated. You guys are great.
Someone said shift into forth at 4500 rpms. Any different rpm's for different gears.

Not to get ahead of myself





2000 GTS Steel Grey
Six piston Bier claws up front, front brakes in back
Quaife Differential, GKH half shafts, alloy fly wheel,
short throw shifter, polished intakes, K&N air filters, Optima battery,
 

J DAWG

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Doesn't having too much weight slow you down? Or is traction more important than speed?


Doesn't gas weigh roughly 8 pounds/gallon. A few extra pounds probably won't hurt you especially if it is at the back wheels which will help with traction. So I personally think the better traction one can get off the line will certainly make up for the little bit of weight.


Isn't the ruke 100 pounds = .1 seconds generally speaking?


I just eat really light a few days before I go to the track. :laugh:
 

J DAWG

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Amdrew, there is no way I would shoft into 4th at 4599, unless my car was making huge amounts of torque, but then I probably wouldn't either. Just to early IMO.
 

Mike Brunton

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Isn't gasoline something like 14lbs/gallon? So I guess the difference between totally full and almost empty could be a couple of hundred pounds... or maybe it was 7lbs/gallon. I'm too lazy to look it up :)

Traction comes from the coefficient of friction and the weight - but it's not linear because there is a "tooth" effect (which is why you can achieve >1g). You lose a good tenth per 100lbs they say, and I personally don't think you're gonna shave of a couple of tenths from having a full tank due to better traction. Better to run as light a load as you can for gas.

I've seen guys folding their mirrors back, adjusting their pressures to within 1psi, taking out the spare tire and floor mats, and so on. Then they get on the track do a 20 second burnout and proceed to run a 12.8@114mph with a 2.5 second 60' time. The most improtant stuff to master at the start is the launch (just work on controlling 2800rpm launches with the clutch and try to consistently stay below 2.0 60's) and work on shifting. When you have perfected those, you will already be deep in the 11's, then ya can worry about full or empty tank, 20psi or 24psi, or to fold mirrors or not :)
 

Tom Welch

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Mike,

I got to disagree with you on a few items;

1. Gas weights about 6.7 lbs per gallon, and more important than the full tank for weight transfer is the fact that the liquid in the tank wants to climb the back of the tank during acceleration. Noting the mounting location for the fuel sump, it is possible with light fuel loads to starve for fuel because of the above noted phenomenon.

2. Tires at 29 psi do not make an even contact patch across the pavement....dont beleive it, try a burnout on concrete and look at the marks(the outer tread bands will be lighter in color as they are not contacting the pavement with equal force. About 23 psi will give consistant tread patterns on a starting pad.

3. 100 pounds per tenth is a rule of thumb for a 2500 lb drag car(see appendix of Mopar Chassis Tuner Manual available at any Dodge Dealer). A 3400 lb Viper with 200+ pounds of driver will have to lose alot more weight per tenth.

4. The original poster resides in a TROPICAL climate that is much different than yours. Humidity plays a major role in air density and its effect on performance. High levels of humidity mean more particles of water in a given amount of atmosphere......engines don't run good on water.

Happy motoring!

Tom
 
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Andrew/USPWR

Andrew/USPWR

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Were taking notes........ :p keep talking.




2000 GTS Steel Grey
Six piston Bier claws up front, front brakes in back
Quaife Differential, GKH half shafts, alloy fly wheel,
short throw shifter, polished intakes, K&N air filters, Optima battery,
 
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