daniel77350

I want to get into drag racing(at the track) next spring when the tracks open, and I have heard a million different opinions to drag racing an auto. I've raced a stick before, but never an auto. What is the story with shifting from 1 to 2 to 3. is this a good idea? also, when I shift through them, shall I lift off the gas, let it up a little, or just gun right through the gears? Or should I just put it in 3, and toe-first it when the light goes green. How should I do it?

Thanks guys;
Daniel

PatsLs1vette

start in 1st and shift through at your desired rpm points and dont let up keep it down through the gears.


[Modified by pats406nitrovette, 9:15 PM 12/4/2001]

daniel77350

how do I launch? from idle? If not, do I bring up the idle, then slam it from nutral to 1st? As I said, I only know how to do it with a clutch and a gas peddle...

Daniel

KrAzYSnIpEr

no, pull back to first gear, rev up while holding brake to 1500 or so, more experienced guys can help, and just push it up when you want to shift

PatsLs1vette

do you have stall converter or is it a stock converter?I hold the brake and push gas down to about 2000 then launch from there,never do it from neutral.or youll be picking up pieces eventually..

Ganey

Shift pedal to the metal, er glass- don't let up.
KrAzYSnIpEr & pats406nitrovette are describing power braking. Hold the brake & mash on the gas, release brake & floor it to go. You may need to shift before actual shift point if trans. is stock. Go practice.

:cheers:


[Modified by Ganey, 8:39 PM 12/4/2001]

daniel77350

its all stock right now. But hopefully before I get to the track I will have a few goodies engine related(not trans) I considered 4.11 gears, as I don't do much street driving with it minus a trip to school once or twice a week and hopefully to club meetings every saturday(starting last saturday). Maybe 4.11 is to tall, so perhaps I will look for high 3.-- gears. Any opinions on that. Im doing my suspencion/powersteering over the winter so after that Im going to work on power and things for dragracing and maybe autocrossing(4.11 no good for that I don't think)...then after that I'll work on things like dash pads and other interior-eye candy things...

Daniel

427V8

For the first run just leave it in drive and punch it, see what it does...

NEVER EVER rev the engine in neutral and drop the trans into gear, unless you WANT to drag the car home...

For real racing do this ( I like Way 1, easier to control )

Launching;
Two ways;
Way 1, Powerbrake, Apply brakes hard with left foot, gas with right to desired RPM, when the last yellow flashes, let go of the brake and hit the gas ( A high power car may require a little finesse with the gas )

Way 2, Converter flash, ( Harder to be consistant that way 1 but heats the trans fluid less) Again left foot on brake, at idle, at last yellow, mash the gas, wait a FRACTION of a second, and release the brake, this will allow the converter to flash to a higher RPM than powerbraking which will get the engine further into it's powerband.


Shifting;
Foot mashed onto the floor, click the trans into the next gear. DO NOT press the 'release' button! The shifter will shift UP a gear without it and will NOT go into reverse! If you do go to far you will go into neutral...oops


[Modified by 427V8, 8:48 PM 12/4/2001]

Ganey

You might be happier w/ 3.7. 4.11 & lower are good for drag racing. You can get a lower first gear in the TH350 like 2.75 which lowers the overall ratio.

daniel77350

what do you suggest to get maximum use of my power for short strip purposes(1/4th mile) and little burts on the street(to pass legally of course) and to keep it pretty much under 80. I don't expect to go over 80 on the street, but on the track(drag and autocross) I want to get the most of my power.

My engine mods will probably be limited to an intake swap, cam change, and possible head swap if I can find good ones at a good price. I don't expect to go above about 275 HP with this car. After school, when I buy another one and build it up...thats a different story.

Daniel

PatsLs1vette

hey daniel i have an extra edelbrock performer intake . i have 3.70 gears im useing now good around town and not too bad on highway

VTHokie77Vette

This is something I've wanted to know as well. Some have told me that shifting an auto was bad for a transmission and others have told me that its the same as the car doing it, but at different points. I was also told not to shift down unless you were going really really slow. I know one thing I like to do is give my girl whiplash by putting it in first getting the rpms up then letting off for a sec than tapping it hard again... is this stupid of me? I don't redline it, but sometimes it stays in first a little longer than usual.

daniel77350

I dunno about shifting down in it, but I do know I was riding with my teach one day makin a pizza run for the class(we where all pullin an all nighter) and some guy was tailgating him, so instead of tapping the breaks like most people, he droped the car to 1st the guy behind us got such a scare he pulled into a lot and got out of his car and started walking around..(good idea to solve tail gates as long as your not in the vette)....but I don't know if its bad for the car...

Daniel

PatsLs1vette

i usually shift mine manually most of the time ,some trans. wont even let you downshift at higher rpms...me personally dont think your hurting it.

je68

If your are hammering the car ie going through the gears you dont want to be in drive. In drive your trans is not as strong as in first or 2nd it has other things going on when it is in drive.

daniel77350

today I did my first power run from a stop light. I had been practicing the shifting but never got on it. :eek: what a difference, first of all I almost lit them up off the line(I was good until I hit the highway paint in the intersection). Then when I went into 2nd I didn't bark them, I nearly lit them up again(left a mark), then into 3rd which felt like I had downshifted because I took off again, before I realized what was going on I was up around 90. :eek:

I can honestly say I wasn't expecting that kind of performance. Also, I found out the tranny has a B&M shift kit w/all the goodies(hence the power between 1st and 2nd). I still don't know about the engine, but Im sure its nothing special. I told my corvette club that it was at 200 HP because its 180 HP from factory, then the AC stuff was gone(estimated another 20 HP gain). I think my estimation is pretty close. As for the diff, I still don't know what that is, and there is no way to know aside from counting teeth. I'll keep researching and keep you guys posted.

Thanks for the driving lessons.

Daniel

FERL 73

How did manually shifting feel? I've not had the canoochies to try shifting with my foot to the floor. With a manual, you know immediately if you miss the shift but an automatic feels kind of like maybe it's going to go or maybe it wont, maybe I went too far or maybe I didn't go far enough. What if you hit neutral? An automatic just feels like there is too much of a margin for error. Or is my shifter hosed? It's OK manually shifting when driving around town, but foot to the floor???

daniel77350

It felt like a stick. When you go from 1st to 2nd, you better react quick and get both hands firmly on the wheel, because when it shift it jolts you back.

I tried it again at the next light just leaving it in drive(3). :sleep: first of all it wasn't as fun, and 2nd it didn't feel like it had the same power, and getting "to speed" seemed to take longer. Before i was at 90 before I realized it, this time i got to 70 and decided it wasn't as exciting, so i took my foot out of it. Maybe that was because I knew what to expect, but I don't know. You should try it once, its quite a rush, I still have my grin. It will be gone tomarrow when I go into the power steering :rolleyes:

Daniel

daniel77350

Its also important to remember I have never gone WOT for that long, so my excitement level is probably bigger because of that.

Maybe some more experianced racers can tell you how big the difference really is...I wish I could put a time on the difference(like, "you gain .10 by shifting manualy over launching in drive") or something like that.

Daniel

Ganey

Not a good idea to try to give your girlfriend whiplash because if you do then ... - just a guess.

As for the car, it is fine. If yours is stock the owner's manual normally covers down shift speeds. Fine to manually shift the auto.!

BTW, know of someone who put a GM auto. in Reverse at 90- evidently it was harder on their hearts than the car which was fine. This is Not Rec. for the trans.!