k so i am heading up to my first drag soon and i have no clue how to properly launch. i have a 5sp manual and street tires. do i need to pop my clutch or just do a quick let off or what? any help would be great.

 

I don't like popping the clutch as it puts excessive strain on the drivetrain and really does not make the car any quicker. You need to release the clutch fast but in a controlled manner and apply enough throttle to just haze the tires, you don't want to do a burn out on the starting line. No one will be impressed and your competition will leave you in your own smoke. Stay out of the water trap if you are using street tires and don't bother doing burng outs to get them warm. Street tires do not improve when heated, but the water will make them slip more. Many strips do not allow cars with street tires to go into the water, because they retain water in the threads and spread it around on the strip, making things dangerous.

 

Not much to add to that. Back when I used street tires I did a short dry burnout just to get the crap off them, but a long one will get the tires "greasy", you'll loose traction. Also different tires have different rubber compounds, my Pirelli's I used to use for example did tack up just a bit, but these sumitomo's are crap no matter what.

For the launch, every car is different. Just takes some practice. Don't side-step the clutch, you'll burn the pads up and kill the flywheel, ask me how I know. A little chirp off the line is good, keyword little. You'll know how you're doing when you get your timeslip, look at the 60' times. My best back when I was stock on street tires was a 2.1 60', I'm down to a 1.9 now with DR's and the oem clutch slipping pretty bad.

 

what do ya mean by no "side steppin" the clutch? and thanks for the tips gonna try to get out some tonite and practice on the streets...

 

Some people just slide their foot off to the side and let the clutch pop, this is really hard on several parts of the car.

 

Peel out.. I can't burnout myself because I don't have a posi rearend. Its actually funny I always leave one HUGE track