wilburfierce

1st trip to a new 1/8 mi strip for practice day. I am in the blue ridge mtns of NC. At our track it seems mostly American muscle. Very few people even know what my car is. ( the few who did were super friendly-always asked me about it ). There were 5 rows at the staging area and though it was only practice day, the guy really tried to line up matched cars to make it more fun. ( Except for EC tune my car is dead stock.) The 1st few runs I was paired with other stock looking street cars. He must have noticed that I buried them all so he began lining me up with some true drag cars. Was buried by the first, actually took the second but on the third run I was beside a highly modded Camaro with a towering intake, headers so loud I couldn't tell if my car was running and huge drag slicks. This, I thought would be embarrassing. I'm sure he must have scoffed at this nerd beside him in a normal looking C class Merc. But even after my typical pathetic reaction time ( almost 1/2 a second) I slowly reeled him in and took him at the line. Would have loved to have known his thoughts when I went by. For me this makes for great fun with the AMG at the track.

Sorry for the excited newbie intro.
What this is supposed to be about is...
SUGGESTIONS : on possible rear tires for my stock wheels that via width and or compound will reduce wheel spin??? It felt like they were spinning half way down the track on my 1st run. ( Low mi. Michelin Pilots ) It was very difficult to control spin off the line and even with throttle finesse practice I always lost a great deal of time first 300'. I do not want to spend the $ or hassle with changing to slicks at the track, I'm just having fun. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance,

Overexcited new owner of 204-C-63 I lucked upon at auction. ( at 60 this is far and away the best car I've ever driven ! )

Seraphim38

You lose a LOT of time due to wheel spin. Nitto or BFG Drag radials help a lot.
If you aren't willing or able to use drag radials then put the widest tire with the tallest sidewall that you can fit.

Doc Oc

Pilots are a good tire if your not going to run dr's. What was your 60' time? I just went from 255 pilots to 275 nitto nt05's but haven't been to the track yet. Going this weekend. Can feel a nice difference though in traction.

Where's the track btw? We spend a lot of time in the Waynesville/Maggie Valley area and never knew there was a track around.

Brunty88

wilburfierce

My 60' times were pretty consistent around 2 sec. and in 6 of 7 runs next lane was off ahead until nearly mid way when I gained pretty quickly on all and passed before the line. Car really needs driver improvement more than new tires-my reaction times were all pathetic.
There are 1/8 mile tracks in Greer ( Greenville SC ) and Shelby NC. ( Shady side dragway ). They both have 1 practice ( test & tune ) per week. Bristol may be about the same dist for you. ? I really want to try their track. It's well known and I'd rather do 1/4 mile runs. Sun was my 1st time at Shadyside and 1st time with the EC tune which gave me a huge gain in throttle response. That could be the source of all the wheel spin but I really think it was poor traction of the strip, it actually has a concrete surface. Too bad because Shadyside is better organized and all the track guys were laid back and super nice. They have 6 staging lanes and really try to line up evenly matched cars which to me is a blast. At Greer you're as likely to line up with a pro stock as a pickup truck. ( running beside a 5-6 sec car kinda takes the fun out of it ) But I think Greer will be faster. You can drive around their water whereas Shadyside sprays the staging area constantly. And I don't think a burnout will benefit the pilots. Wherever I go I'll drive the car there (approx 150mi rt ) so I wouldn't mind a softer compound but definitely do not want slicks.
Even with addl width I would think a taller tire would affect launch. I'd like to go with 16s but no way with those brake calipers.
You have a 204 C 63 too ? I really love that at these strips most everyone thinks it's just a C series Merc.

wilburfierce

0-60 in 3.5 is awesome, you'll do well at he strip. Any mods to your car ? I've never heard anything good here about race start but it must be working for you. We have a dead flat straight 1/8 mile+ out in the sticks from town where you can spot a cop from 1/2 mile, 360*. So I've practiced launch a lot and tried everything but race start (it sounds confusing and I can barely chew gum and walk.). So for me this what clearly works best. In S with sport handling on, I hold the brake down, go to 2000rpm for a quick second, release and roll into full throttle so it doesn't break loose at the start. If our tracks only had the kind of traction this road has ! But this technique has to be modified to more exacting throttle finesse launching at the track and I am far from having that mastered. ( to be honest, driver improvement needed more than better tires ! )