Originally Posted by chawkins2001

The car should not be in the raised position from the button by the gear shift. It will only lower itself back down during the run.

If you are on an ELM or links, use that to raise the car manually before you get to the track, and leave the car in the lowered position via the gear shift button.

Comfort suspension mode should be selected too, so that means it should not be in sport 1 or 2. Lastly, let the car shift itself in sport mode or manually shift it in sport mode if you want to short shift it. Sport mode gives you some leeway in case you forget to shift, it wont bounce off the limiter like manual mode will, instead it will upshift itself.

Finally, some like to drag in dyno mode, I dont have a choice as I cannot burnout unless in dyno mode. It is not for the sqeemish though, as ABS is disabled, so be very careful climbing on the brakes after the run.

Originally Posted by FormulaZR

Once you get there: #O
- You will probably need to have your car tech’d. Proceed as directed by track employees. They will probably have you fill out an info card of some type and want to give your car a quick inspection. This is NOT the place to talk about how awesome your car is. Example: CL600’s have a rear mounted battery, this requires a battery cut-off; I don’t have one on my car and don’t intend to put one on. But, talking about it might give an official no choice but to tell me I can’t run. They may also ask how quick the car is; it’s best to sandbag here.
- If you’re new to the track; once your tech’d and have your number on the car just go park it. This will accomplish two things. One - it’ll give your car some time to cool off. Two – it will give you a chance to look things over. Take a look at the staging lanes to see where the street cars are supposed to be, and if you have a designated lane. Then watch the track officials to get a “feel” for what their “style” is. You can also see if one lane is better/stickier than the other. Once you have a feel for what’s going on and you feel like your car has cooled enough, proceed to the staging lanes.
- When you are getting close to the front of the staging lanes, go ahead and put your seatbelt and helmet (if required) on. You can either turn your radio off, or if you’re like me keep it tuned to the tracks broadcast frequency to hear your time – if you choose to leave it on, make SURE it’s low enough to still hear what’s going on around you. Also, turn ESP OFF or put the car in Dyno Mode (see “dyno mode” section for more on this).

Burnout: #BU
- If you have street tires, go around the water box. You can still do a quick spin if you want to clear the rocks/debris out of them. I will also say that street tires do vary a lot depending on manufacturer/type – so you may have more or less luck with a true burnout; use your best judgment here.
- If you have drag tires (radial or bias) then you can either do what you see the other cars doing, OR go around the water box and then back into it to keep your front tires dry. The official will give you the signal when it’s the right time by pointing a finger at you and making a circular motion. Pull forward slightly, out of the box, then depress the brake. Hold it in, then step on the gas at the same time. Your RPMs should come up as the tires start to spin. Hold the gas and brake together until the tires start to smoke a bit, then release the brake. Your car will slowly move forward, then the tires will grab suddenly. Immediately back off the throttle and roll forward toward the staging beams. Do not do a burnout past the “start line”, as that is technically illegal for any car with front brakes.

Staging: #S

At the top of the tree, there are two sets of small household type bulbs. The first set is “pre-stage” and the second set is “stage. As you pull forward slowly, the “pre-stage” set illuminates. Let your opponent “pre-stage” before you pull forward to illuminate the “stage” set. Once both cars have fully staged, the starter will let the lights come down. See the “more info” section at the bottom for more on this.


The Tree: #T

After both cars stage, the light on the tree will come down. You will see 3 yellow lights that illuminate in half-second intervals, with a green at the end. With the sequence yellow-yellow-yellow-green, you want to leave on the last yellow for a good Reaction Time. If you see a red light, you left before the green and are disqualified. Some drag strips may use a different light method, see the “more info” section at the bottom for more on this.


The Launch: #L

The hardest part of the race is the first 60 feet. Practice is the only way to improve this time, but here’s what works for me.
Settings: Suspension ABC raised all the way, ABC NOT in SPORT mode, trans in SPORT mode. After staging, with my foot on the brake, I press lightly on the accelerator to bring the RPMs up to about 1000-1200 (this may vary for you). This takes the slack out of the drivetrain. On the last yellow, I release the brake and roll into the throttle. Simply slamming on the gas will result in wheelspin and a slower ET. The speed at which you come to full throttle depends on available traction. Once you have made it the first 100-ish feet, you can press the ABC button once to lower it fully and press the ABC Sport button – I have no proof, but this should help at the higher mph.


The Run: #R

Since you’re driving an automatic, just hang on and keep it floored until you are PAST the finish line. Lots of folks get out of the throttle too early, as it is sometimes hard to tell exactly where the line is from inside the car. There is plenty of braking room at the end, don’t worry.
There may be several turn-offs at the end of the track, but don’t worry about making the first or second one. Always let the inside car turn off the track first, even if they are the slower car. This is to avoid accidents. On the return road, before the pits, there is a shack/hut called the timing booth. Stop here and pick up your timeslip, but save reading it until you’re back in the pits to avoid traffic jams.

Bad things: #BT
- You always hope it won’t happen, BUT if you hear a boom, pop, slam or any other strange noise coming from your car, pull over as quickly as safety allows. The less of the track that gets covered by fluids, the better for everyone. The track will send out the emergency truck to make sure you are OK and provide a tow if necessary.
- Watch out for the other guy, too. Pay attention if they are leaking fluids, as this could be dangerous for you. Also, if they look like they are coming out of their lane, it’s best to just back off rather than risk it. Use good judgment here.

Dyno Mode: #D
- Turn the key to position 1, then scroll to the screen that shows the odometer, press the reset button on the left side of the dash marked with an “R” 5 times (I think). This will bring up a new menu, scroll through till you see ESP Dynamometer test, highlight “on” and then start the car.
- Everyone may have different results, but my experience is that after a few full throttle runs, dyno mode makes the car mad and it runs like the wastegates are open…so you may want to turn dyno mode off every so often.

Transmission Protection: #TP
- If, especially after/during a burnout, the car acts like it’s in park or neutral even though it’s in drive you have probably hit the transmission’s torque limiter. Don’t panic, just put the car in park and restart it. Problem solved. Don’t forget to turn ESP back off or make sure you’re still in dyno mode.

Originally Posted by e55amgrocket

I run it in the raise position is what I meant. Not comfort mode.

Originally Posted by Jimshorts

This must make a bigger difference for you guys with the high powered cars. On my car stock i had slower ETs and traps with it raised.