Road Racing

1998GT · 07-07-2003

Road racing to me is totally different that track. I know here that lots of people dont go meet up and plan everything out, i just like to cruise around, look at some nice cars, pull up next to some and that kind of thing. besides that stuff my favorite thing to do is just simply drive. One thing that i like to do is just to cruise down those windy windy roads, where with me you are in 3rd and 4th the entire time..

Some people are saying, yeah street racing is different because you have to look out for cops and things like that. To me i dont see hiding from cops, or running from them really a skill.. It doesn't take skill to run from the cops..

Street racing is bad, but every prolly has done it..

I hope that one day i can make it to the track, i would like to see what i run.. But until then, i will still go and cruise around friday or saturday night..

What do you guys perfer..

a. My car is for track use only .
b.I do not plan on taking my car to the track, why go to the track when i can do it on the streets?
c. I do both.

Please share your feelings, thanks.

Twister · 07-07-2003

street racing is stupid and dangerous, take it to the track

Twokingsracer · 07-07-2003

Track dude. Although to say I havent dropped the hammer a few times on the street would be a lie. Definitely the track.

1998GT · 07-07-2003

I also agree, i went to the track for my first time to watch and it was a complete blast, one of the funnest places to go.. But like my dad owns property up in Hood canal and its just a long 2 lane curly and strait road all the way there and like what twokings said, you can't help but hammer it on those long long strait roads sometimes.

Cobra2k1 · 07-07-2003

I have never raced at the track, I have only raced on the streets. However I do not race alot or even put my car thru the paces alot. Example it's July of 2003, my car was 1st bought in July of 2001 it only has 9000 miles on it so obviously I'm not driving it alot. 4500 miles a year is definitely not alot.

I would like to run at the track....someday but there are a few things holding me back.

1. My lack of skill at launching, I am concerned & maybe even a little afraid of hammering the launch too hard that I could hit the wall. I have had this happen on the streets, but on the streets there is generally more than 1 lane and there's no wall. (BTW when this did happen I was just testing my ability to launch with no traffic around not racing anyone)

2. Insurance - generally insurance will not cover accidents that occur at the track. And in the case of the closest track to my house they even make you sign a waiver acknowledging that you will not be covered if you crash. This kind of goes hand and hand with the fact that I'm afraid I may hit the wall lol.

3. The Burnout Box - the truth is I have no clue how to do a burnout without dumping the clutch say at 3 or 4k rpms in 1st. If it was an automatic I would just hold the brakes in hit the gas, but since it's a stick I've never brake torqued my car or anything like that so I have a fear of dumping the clutch in the burnout box and then losing control, my tail kicks out or whatever and hitting the wall before I can hit the brakes in time.

I wish there was a safe way to test and learn this stuff while I'm covered by my insurance and without really putting my car in jeopardy. I guess I'm just lame, but I only learned to drive a manual just over a year and a half ago.

Twokingsracer · 07-07-2003

To give you an example of the track I go to...there is no way you go sliding sideways long enough to damage your car unless you are just completely out of it and dont know whats going on. Plenty of room to shut it down. It does almost no good to burn street radials. The only reason you would do it is to shed as much water from them as possible...the way to avoid that is to go around the water box. I guess some do it to clean the tires off, but I dont anymore. It doesnt help street radials. I dont know why your car hops out the way you describe, but if you are dumping the clutch and bounching that bad you need some new rear suspension components. You are a lot safer at the track than on the street because there is no fear of cross traffic, the lanes are clean and clear. The odds of wrecking are pretty slim.

Plus the great thing about test and tunes....you take our time and make as many passes as it takes to get to know how your car launches, what RPM's to shift at to get best ET's, how to cut that perfect light, etc...we all started at one time or another. For me there is a great thrill about jumping off that tree and cutting a good light...good RT is as satisfying as a good ET. Thats just me.

Cobra2k1 · 07-07-2003

It's not really car hop (my car is not that powerful lol), it's more like if I rev the car up to say 4k rpms and dump the clutch full throttle then the car spins the tires almost thru all of 1st gear. In this instance the front end of the car kind of shimmies side to side and I have to grip the wheel real tight to keep it straight, but I have shimmied enough that I have gone a bit into the other lane (but like I said there was no traffic and I wasn't racing anyone). This is where I fear a collission with the wall, I figure if the drag lanes are the same size as a regular street lane then I could shimmie into the wall. The car doesn't seem to grab and lose the shimmie completely until I shift to 2nd at like 6k or so rpms.

If I do the opposite and try to just time the release of the clutch and full throttle at the exact perfect time I usually end up bogging the car out in 1st until it reaches about 4k rpms

I really suck at launches, that's probably the main reason the only race I've lost was from a dead stop

I do fine on rolling starts so I guess I'm just a bad driver on a manual

if I had an automatic I would do much better obviously lol