Drag Racing the A6
11-05-2010, 11:45 AM
#1
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Drag Racing the A6
I read somewhere that you can put the shifter in S and it will still shift auto, but at a higher RPM giving you a better time. Just want to verify this as I am taking my GS to the track tomorrow.
11-05-2010, 12:23 PM
#2
Burning Brakes
As long as you do not touch the paddle shifters, yes, you can put it in S and not have to shift manually. And yes, it's supposed to shift more aggressive as I understand it in S rather than D.
11-05-2010, 01:38 PM
#5
Burning Brakes
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DEFINATELY. I posted my 3 trips to teh track in my2007 A6. In drive the tranny shifts at around 3500 rpm. In sport mod it shifts right after 6000 rpm. made a .5 second difference in ET's.
11-05-2010, 01:49 PM
#6
11-05-2010, 02:03 PM
#7
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St. Jude Donor '13
If yours is shifting at around 3500 rpm under WOT, something is wrong.
11-05-2010, 03:19 PM
#9
Melting Slicks
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The A6 transmission is very tempermental if you don't get good traction off the launch so his statement is at least partially correct. What most likely happened is he spun out of the hole which will almost always cause it to short shift, but that's definitely not a general characteristic of D vs. S mode as I only ever run my car in D.
11-05-2010, 05:05 PM
#11
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St. Jude Donor '10-'12-'13-'14
I'm running 11.9 with headers and vararam only on my 2010 Grand Sport A6. Here's what I'm doing:
1) turn off air conditioner
2) sport mode (no paddles)
3) turn off TC (leave AH on)
4) do short burnout to clean off your tires
5) don't forget to close your window
6) stage then brake and hold about 1200 rpm
7) launch after last yellow (takes practice)
11-05-2010, 05:22 PM
#12
Melting Slicks
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I'm running 11.9 with headers and vararam only on my 2010 Grand Sport A6. Here's what I'm doing:
1) turn off air conditioner
2) sport mode (no paddles)
3) turn off TC (leave AH on)
4) do short burnout to clean off your tires
5) don't forget to close your window
6) stage then brake and hold about 1200 rpm
7) launch after last yellow (takes practice)
1) turn off air conditioner
2) sport mode (no paddles)
3) turn off TC (leave AH on)
4) do short burnout to clean off your tires
5) don't forget to close your window
6) stage then brake and hold about 1200 rpm
7) launch after last yellow (takes practice)
The other thing that can help you reduce your ET by as much as a tenth (although it'd probably only be about a 1/2 tenth on a lightly modded car) is to stage as absolutely shallow as possible.
If you're not familiar with this, it involves pulling forward slowly until you trip the first bulb and then immediately stop. After this, bump the car forward a inch or two at a time until you just barely trip the second bulb.
The theory behind the idea is that you're actually getting a bit of a running start and when I did this with my friend's cammed 2007 last year, I ran a full tenth faster compared to the run he made in the car just 15 minutes prior.
Here's an example (it's the same pass shot from each side) of what shallow staging looks like in practice:
11-05-2010, 05:30 PM
#13
Burning Brakes
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With a stock converter, if you leave at just barely above idle you'll actually get a better 60ft time and ET.
The other thing that can help you reduce your ET by as much as a tenth (although it'd probably only be about a 1/2 tenth on a lightly modded car) is to stage as absolutely shallow as possible.
If you're not familiar with this, it involves pulling forward slowly until you trip the first bulb and then immediately stop. After this, bump the car forward a inch or two at a time until you just barely trip the second bulb.
The theory behind the idea is that you're actually getting a bit of a running start and when I did this with my friend's cammed 2007 last year, I ran a full tenth faster compared to the run he made in the car just 15 minutes prior.
Here's an example (it's the same pass shot from each side) of what shallow staging looks like in practice:
The other thing that can help you reduce your ET by as much as a tenth (although it'd probably only be about a 1/2 tenth on a lightly modded car) is to stage as absolutely shallow as possible.
If you're not familiar with this, it involves pulling forward slowly until you trip the first bulb and then immediately stop. After this, bump the car forward a inch or two at a time until you just barely trip the second bulb.
The theory behind the idea is that you're actually getting a bit of a running start and when I did this with my friend's cammed 2007 last year, I ran a full tenth faster compared to the run he made in the car just 15 minutes prior.
Here's an example (it's the same pass shot from each side) of what shallow staging looks like in practice:
Christopher is right about that. I do the same thing.
11-05-2010, 05:39 PM
#14
Melting Slicks
OK....can I ask a rookie question here.....how do you do the run-up burn out with just the back tires? Doesn't engaging the brakes engage both the front and back brakes? Please excuse the rookie question (flame suit on!).
11-05-2010, 05:49 PM
#15
Melting Slicks
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If you're using drag radials you need to punch the throttle hard and then immediately apply the brakes but without full pressure. The front brakes actually do most of the work so it's not overly difficult to find the happy medium of enough pressure to keep the car from rolling forward but not too much to stop the back wheels.
11-05-2010, 06:17 PM
#17
Burning Brakes
They say you learn something new everyday......well, that's true for today.
11-05-2010, 06:41 PM
#18
Melting Slicks
If you're using street tires you only want to punch the throttle briefly to clean them off and nothing more. Doing even a short burnout on street tires will make them slick and slow you down.
If you're using drag radials you need to punch the throttle hard and then immediately apply the brakes but without full pressure. The front brakes actually do most of the work so it's not overly difficult to find the happy medium of enough pressure to keep the car from rolling forward but not too much to stop the back wheels.
If you're using drag radials you need to punch the throttle hard and then immediately apply the brakes but without full pressure. The front brakes actually do most of the work so it's not overly difficult to find the happy medium of enough pressure to keep the car from rolling forward but not too much to stop the back wheels.
11-05-2010, 08:15 PM
#19
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With a stock converter, if you leave at just barely above idle you'll actually get a better 60ft time and ET.
The other thing that can help you reduce your ET by as much as a tenth (although it'd probably only be about a 1/2 tenth on a lightly modded car) is to stage as absolutely shallow as possible.
If you're not familiar with this, it involves pulling forward slowly until you trip the first bulb and then immediately stop. After this, bump the car forward a inch or two at a time until you just barely trip the second bulb.
The theory behind the idea is that you're actually getting a bit of a running start and when I did this with my friend's cammed 2007 last year, I ran a full tenth faster compared to the run he made in the car just 15 minutes prior.
Here's an example (it's the same pass shot from each side) of what shallow staging looks like in practice:
The other thing that can help you reduce your ET by as much as a tenth (although it'd probably only be about a 1/2 tenth on a lightly modded car) is to stage as absolutely shallow as possible.
If you're not familiar with this, it involves pulling forward slowly until you trip the first bulb and then immediately stop. After this, bump the car forward a inch or two at a time until you just barely trip the second bulb.
The theory behind the idea is that you're actually getting a bit of a running start and when I did this with my friend's cammed 2007 last year, I ran a full tenth faster compared to the run he made in the car just 15 minutes prior.
Here's an example (it's the same pass shot from each side) of what shallow staging looks like in practice:
11-05-2010, 08:37 PM
#20
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Interesting...I didn't know it was a balance....so I'm guessing it creates wear on the back brakes as well. Also makes me wonder about those idiots that wander around in front of cars doing burnouts (like the guy holding the camera in the smoking my old tires FAIL video I've seen here)....if the car is actually just balanced between power and brakes, seems like there's always the possibility of an inadvertent short launch.