[Sapphire Shelby]

Hello all,

I have drag raced off and on for several years at the fun drags of a local track. I have always just ran my car on street tires. So I drove around the water box and never had to do a burnout. The past year I have did some mods to the car and thought I would step up to a set of drag radials. Since I have never used them before I would like to know the best way to heat them up. The car I will be using them on is a 1966 Fastback with a T5 out of a 93 5.0 LX. I feel stupid in saying this, but I have never been good at doing a burnout. This is why I need some advice in how to heat the drag radials. What gear should I use? Would second gear be better then first? Do I just side step and dump the clutch or pop it? I use the car for shows as well so I don't have a line lock on it either. Like I said I feel kind of dumb asking these questions. I have not ever been one to show off on the street so I honestly don't really know how to do a good burnout. Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[racin366]

A linelock is a good investment, but not necessary with rear drum brakes, disc rears are hell on the clutch if you try to do a burnout. I always go around the box even on slicks to keep the fronts dry, back in and move back up a hair, dump the clutch and quick shift into 2nd, the added tire speed helps a lot. Like I said, powerbraking is hard on the clutch, but not as bad with drums. Mark the tires with chalk to make sure they both spin, but you don't need all day to get some heat into them. Monitor your air pressure and try different psi to find what works best for you.

[StangLX93]

depending on the compound of the tire, consult the manufacture for correct PSI min and max and usually if its a drag radial its basically its a worn down street tire, but dont judge me to quickly its not just a regular tire and im aware of that, but 90% of the time drag radials require one good long burn out for the first run, then short scratches from there on out, same thing with slicks the softer the compound the less of a burn out you need, the harder the slick you get the idea, overall if your looking for good traction and less spin with minimal burnout responsibitly and plan to drive to and from the track Drag Radials are ideal, if you dont mind changing tires at the track and perfer more burnout attention then a good 26 to 28 dia x 8.5 to 9.0 width ( 9.0 might be even pushing it) will work great

[cindys_sn95]

depending on your h/p and the size of the drag radials you may not even need a burn out. trial and error.....

[mmb617]

I drive around the water box, back in, then pull forward enough to get out of the water. When I get the ok to do my burnout I bring the revs up (in my case to 4k) with the heel of my right foot on the gas, and toe on the brake, then let out the clutch. I keep my toe on the brake to hold the car in place while using the heel on the gas to keep the revs up till I see good smoke in my mirrors, then ease off the brakes and let up on the gas to roll forward. I use second gear for more tire speed.

This method has worked well for me and doesn't seem to wear the tires unnecessarily. After 140 passes this year they still look pretty good, still have the grooves visible. This is with M/T drag radials.

[Sapphire Shelby]

Thanks everyone for all the replies. Like I said, I have drag raced off and on for several years in the local fun drags, but always on street tires. The use of drag radials will be something new to me next season. Everyone have a great weekend.