Track Question

[TheMadHatter99]

If I wanted to take my car to the track, what changes should I do to prep it? Should I prepare to buy new tires, better fuel, or what? I've never been to a track but am considering going at least once just for the fun of it so any advice will be welcome.

[CamaroSpike23]

auto or manual?

just go and punch the gas when the light turns green. bout as simple as it gets.

what all have you done to your car?

[Camaro_Corvette]

some tracks require you to bring a helmet, at my dragstrip all you do is pay, enter, and race....easy as that!!!

[AirGoya]

I dont know anything about prepping but are you talking about a dragstrip track?

[CamaroSpike23]

yeah, more than likely you will need a helmet. and i will tell you now... once you go, you will get the mod bug, and the want to go faster and faster. just be warned lol

[CamaroSpike23]

Originally Posted by AirGoya

I dont know anything about prepping but are you talking about a dragstrip track?

yeah, he's talkin about dragstrip prepping


more than likely you will need a helmet. and i will tell you now... once you go, you will get the mod bug, and the want to go faster and faster. just be warned lol


if you could give a list of all your mods (if any) that you have done to your car it would be great. if you've got street tires DO NOT go thru the water box. all you will end up doing is dragging water down the track creating a hazard for other patrons. you could lower your tire pressure a little before you make a pass, but remember to re-inflate your tires before you leave.

[TheMadHatter99]

To answer all the questions:

No mods, just a stock Mustang. I just figured I'd get some trial runs in before I bring the Camaro home. And I'm open to either a circuit or a drag run. It's a manual with regular street tires too.

[boxmonkeyracing]

1. AVOID THE WATER BOX. for one you won't get traction out of the hole. you will warm your tires up but through water up on your wheel wells and by the time you get to the line that water is now all over your tires again and on the ground. and then you create a hazard for people running slicks. . .


2. anything faster then 13.99 you will need a helmet. NHRA standards. 12.99 driveshaft safety loop. but I highly doubt you will see that. and if it's a new GT and no mods I doubt you'll see 13.99. might be lucky though.

3. 1/4 tank of gas is good.

4. street tires spin them a little not much. just enough to warm them up a hair.

5. some strips have cones setup to help you line up in the grove.

6. two sets of yellow lights at the very top of the tree. pre-stage very top lights. usually you want to stage there then wait for the other guy to get to at least there. . .if running another guy/girl. then you inch forward til the second set of lights come on (staged). once both lanes are staged the tree will start. if it's a sportsman tree the yellow lights will count down from the top. I'd launch when the last yellow light lights up. main reason is it takes a half second for your car to move after you tell it to.

5. launching you can play around with the RPMs for launching see where you spin bad and where you bog down etc. it's up to you on how you launch but becareful not to rev up too high and drop the clutch. might break something. with our F-bodies 10 bolts. . .easy to destroy them launching at high RPMs. don't know about your mustang.

as for preping your car I'd take every lose object out of it. and if you want remove the donut. a lighter car is a faster car. . .

have fun and be safe.

[TAG UR IT]

Some damn good responsed here.

Bring cash to race and a helmet.

1/4 tank of gas would be best. Get rid of all the extra weight in your car. I've been known to take out the back seats, passenger seat, spare tire, jack, my subs, etc, etc, etc.... the less weight = the faster you go.

For best traction, let out the rear tires air pressure to no less than 20 psi. You could go lower, but your taking a chance at ripping that tire off the rim w/ too much power.

Those are the basics. You'll get the hang of the tree. I'll tell ya this, spike is right....after one night, you WILL want to go faster! That mod bug hurts....in a GREAT way!!!!!!!

Have fun and be safe!

Oh, and like they said, STAY OUT OF THE WATER BOX unless you have slicks@@@@@@@@@@@@@

[Mindz]

I've always wanted to take a car to the strip. Infineon is about an hour away and Thunder hill is about 2 hours. Laguna Seca is 2.5, but I drive ACR Vipers there. =P

[TheMadHatter99]

Wow, thanks for the help guys. I'm not sure when my schedule will permit, but I'll update as soon as I can get out there.

[Croathlete]

I don't know if this is true with any other car, but you might want to check first. My friend has an STI that he says he can't bring it to the track because when he registers his car, a notification will be sent to Subaru that the car has been raced, which will void his warranty.

Has anyone else heard of this, or know anything more about it?

[TAG UR IT]

Nope. The track might write down you plate on a peice of paper or keep it in their log books only for their records. But, do you think that would make for good business having a track that releases personal/private information to dealers about who is racing their cars there? That doesn't sound right to me. Best bet? Go ask the track. I don't see how they could do that.

[Croathlete]

I'll have to double check with my friend when he gets back to the States, but in looking online, I did find this below. I'm not saying this is real (found it in another forum), but would support his story. I know it's not exactly the same, but similar. I'm not trying to start an argument or anything, just playing devil's advocate here.



In or around May of 2006, a friend of mine and I went to Pacific Raceways to make a few runs down the track. I had my 04 Spec V and he had his brand new 06 Chevrolet Cobalt SS Supercharged. He had owned it for about 2 months at that point. So we went to the track and when I got into the paddock, I began removing my license plates and put tape over my VIN thats located on the dashboard. My friend asked me why I was doing this. I told him that Its been known, and that Ive read a few accounts, that vehicle manufacturers and insurance companies, actually send out "spies" to local track events to go around and take incriminating photos so that they can validate voiding your warranty on your brand new vehicle and cancel your insurance policy, and that he should do the same and remove his license plates since his car was practically brand new. He told me that it sounded like one of those urban legends and that he wasnt worried about it. So being the person that I am, said, "Ok, suit yourself, but dont come crying to me if you get that letter in the mail."

And also being the person that I am, I was looking around trying to locate anyone that may be taking pictures of me or my friends car.That was the main thing I looked for, someone taking a picture of my car or his car that had no reason to be taking a picture of it, because the outside of both of our cars are almost completely stock. I have wheels, his is completly stock. Why would someone take pictures of that at a track where there are LOTS of more interesting cars to take pictures of?

So I was looking for someone by themself, or with one other person, that kind of looked a little out of place and that wasnt talking much. I was paying more attention to the people with LARGE lenses on their cameras so they can get that sneaky zoom. I saw a few people with them, but they were with family and had cars there themselves, so they didnt raise much suspicion to me. Unless of course they are being really ****ing sneaky and doing it while they take their own vehicles to the track. Who knows really, but Im too lazy to be THAT paranoid. lol

The entire day, I didnt notice anyone that I would imagine to fit the profile of the people to look for. So I really thought that I kept a good eye out and he didnt get caught.

We made our runs, had fun, and went home.

A few weeks went by and my friend calls me all pissed off. He says to me, "Dude, you were right! The ****ing dealership sent me a letter telling my that they are voiding my entire drivetrain's ****ing warranty! And they got ****ing pictures too man! My car is going down the track in this one!" I know that this happens, but honestly I was surprised that it actually happened. I was kind of sickened to hear this news. But no where near as sickened as my friend was. He was so ****ing furious.

And to think that was the end of it. 2 days later, he got another letter from his insurance company, which was Geico, the same insurance company I used back then. They canceled his policy. He had to go to another company and get another policy almost immediatly because the next day his bank that financed his car called him and said that they were notified that the car did not currently have insurance and that they needed him to insure it and to have a copy of the policy faxed to them as soon as its insured or they will repossess the car if he doesnt comply in 30 days.

So, as a warning to all of you that go to the drag strip. If you have a warranty and would like to keep it, or if you just have an insurance policy and dont want to be caught on the track, take the 5 minutes to remove them before you go down the track and the 5 minutes to put them back on. And cover your VIN while youre at it.

And just because youve been to the track many times and youve never gotten the letter, doesnt mean it cant happen to you. I found this out on a local Nissan forum in Washington where a guy had went to Pacific Raceways in his new 350Z and they voided his warranty this way. His insurance didnt get canceled, but he warranty was GONE!

You can choose to blow this off if you want, but I dont want to see any post saying this happened to you and youre pissed. Because I will tell you exactly what I told my friend, "Ok, suit yourself, but dont come crying to me if you get that letter in the mail."