NITROUS OXIDE ( nos / n2o ) advice forum

Excuse me for being stupid but this has me baffled.

Im relatively new to the drag racing scene, dont get me wrong im no competition goer, just a man with a hot hatch trying to beat his own time lol.

Im confused though, how is it that i can run a 14.8 with a terminal speed of 91mph, but a 15.3 with a terminal speed of 97mph? Surely the higher the speed the better the time.

How does one or the other tell you which area of the run was successful/poor etc? I assume a good time is the result of a successful launch but a good terminal speed that of a fast run through the gears?

Drag day was one measured where the time starts once you cross the start line, so reaction time does not count

Don't worry, you're not the only one.
Its mostly due to gear changes.
If I shift early, I get a higher top speed, shift late gets a quicker 1/4 mile.

14.2 @ 101
13.85 @ 98.84

One day I'll get them both together

Dragracing is an acceleration sport.

The more time you use to reach a certain speed, the slower your run.
The faster you accelerate, the shorter the time to reach a certain speed.
Therefore, a quicker E.T. creates a slower topspeed.

Lets keep it simple Ben!!

Its all down to traction assuming the engine is behaving itself and is consistent on each run.

And dont forget that the tyres can slip on the track mid run??

You also need to consider gear shifts. You might just miss a shift by 300rpm either side of ideal and lose some speed or time because you are upshifting outside your peak torque zone.

There are a good few variables on the drag strip that give you the best ET and speed.

Last weekend I was running on a concrete runway on an airfield. On one pass I ran 11.0 at 126.5 mph. But i also ran 11.0 at 121 mph.

Once you have done a seasons testing you will start to get the hang of things on the drag strip

I was there too lol!

Makes my crap time of 14.9 laughable

14.9 ent a bad time mate as they say practice makes perfect

If you can run 14.9 then with good tyres and driving technique you should be able to run 14.5 ?

What car is this you were running? My old fiat turbo made 14.4 but i couldnt drive it. Not used to front wheel drive and turbo. Once I've had some practice I bet I'll have the down to a 13.9 by the end of the year

I was in the Black MG with the superchager.

Just been to the streetlegal drags in Drachten Holland and ran a best time of 13.9 sec despite serious wheelhop in 1st and 2nd on a damp track.
Since your Clio RS and my FN2 CTR are essentially the same cars technically you should be able to run similar times. I think you car is even lighter than mine (1300kg).
I did one run against a fella with a 197 yesterday and could barely hold him off and upon speaking to him after our run I learned that his car was almost stock but completely gutted inside with semi slick tyres. He had a programmable management system from Fastchip.

Does your gearbox allow flatshifting?