I just went to the drag strip for my first time last weekend at Texas Motorplex. Tons of fun. I didn't take it too seriously and honestly didn't even know if I was going to run it once I got there or just hang out and watch/photograph the other Z's/G's in my group. I got 14's every run (14.2 was my fastest I think) with lots of photo equipment in the trunk, a bag of clothes, and my car cover in its bag lol! Next time I go I will definitely have the intention of at least running 5 times and go much more prepared. The drag strip was about an hour away from my place so when I got there my oil temps were hovering around 220degrees so I let it cool down a while before deciding to make my first pass. By the way, is that just what you call a run? A pass? I'm a newb haha. Anyways my first pass (I'll call it that) I accidentally left VDC on even though I knew to take it off, but had just restarted my car after waiting to go behind 2 cars that were taking a while to get started. Needless to say that run sucked cause it caught right at the beginning in first gear but I still managed a 14 second run and I always had it off after that. Second pass I had my windows rolled down cause it was hot out and it takes a minute to get up to the starting line and after slowly creeping up to the staging lights and coming to a stop I was like "oh sh!t my windows aren't up" and rolled them up as the lights were counting down which totally threw off my concentration. I wish I knew about the whole lights don't matter about your 1/4 time thing and will definitely be utilizing this next time I go as it would have let me focus more and also there were more than 1 occasion were one car slid into the other lane and one wreck! Figure ill let them go first and try not to get hit, it was pretty crazy. My third pass is where things started working out a little better. I tried to rev it a little higher (like 2500-3k) instead worrying about keeping the tires from spinning at all and that time I took off faster but got some wheel hop the majority of 1st gear. My 4th pass was my best run, dropping the clutch from roughly 2grand and getting a perfect launch. Never made it to helmet range damnit! I never burned out or spun the tires before a pass so that, along with over half a tank of gas and a full trunk of goodies probly didn't help. No worries though it was lots of fun and my first drag experience. Both G's in my group were getting mid, maybe low 13's and the other 370z with a few breather mods and took out his spare tire, jack, and passenger seat got either 13.02, or 13.2 fastest time. All but mine were tiptronic. Almost forgot to mention this, my shifts from 1st to 2nd were killing my times. Would have definitely been in the 13's but when shifting near 7k from 1st to 2nd it wouldn't go into 2nd right away, I'm assuming from stress or something. Was in a Porsche the day before cruising around and took it to 7k in first and it shifted to 2nd like butter..... WTF is wrong with my car?!?! It only has 33k miles. Is this a common issue that can be resolved with an upgraded clutch and flywheel combo or less? Someone also mentioned synchros may be going out? I'm completely 100% stock. Let me know what you guys think and hopefully you guys find something from my drag racing experience helpful towards yours in the future.
Here is a photo of our convoy on the way there
And a shot from my second pass (taken by my GF)
