Friday Night Drags at Texas Motor Speedway
06-25-2012, 08:54 AM
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W212 E63, 1994 Defender D90-Wifes, Panamera Turbo- Wifes, Track Car- looking... :(
Friday Night Drags at Texas Motor Speedway
Ok, so I have 2 kids (3 year old and 6 month old) and I sold my Carrera S a while back for an '07 E63 and then got a '10 E63. i love it. Other than the craptastic "RaceStart" which is the worst Launch Control system I could fathom, the car is as advertised.
I've put 22K miles on it with just a couple of little issues.
So, I've been going to the Friday Night Drags at Texas Motor Speedway for a couple of years.....(mainly because they start at 8:00 on Friday nights and the wife won't give me too much grief). I meet up with a bunch of my car buddies and we have fun. The E63's run in the Sportsman Class which was everything with a V8-- ZR1, CTSV, Z06, Camaros, Mustangs.... so historically I'd usually win a round or two and get sent packing......
I thought I'd share this weeks episode...... So for this year, they separated out all the FI (forced induction- Superchargers and turbo'd) V8s from the Sportsman class. Meaning the top dawgs should be the Z06's.... But, as this is just a 1/8 mile track, launch is king because the run is so short that there isn't enough track to make up a bad start.
So I thought I'd share my night. Over the past couple of years, the best combination I've found for running the grey whale (as I affectionately call her) is this:
#1 run your rear tires at 28 psi. You can leave the fronts alone. This might be the biggest help to get traction off the line. You have to remember that the "recommended" psi settings are for the mfg to get the best mpg on the car..... not the best grip. (I run 28psi at all 4 corners when I take it to the road course or at autoX)
#2 DO NOT USE RaceStart EVER. This feature has been so lawyer'd up it just sucks. (My wife has a Panamera Turbo and the Launch Control feature is great. So simple...... just push a button and destroy.
#3 Torque brake at 1500 rpm. -- otherwise you have to modulate the throttle to avoid too much wheelspin
#4 put it in sport mode to allow for a little bit of wheelspin without the electronic nannys to cut in.
So, I was able to win 6 heats and get to the finals. Along the way I tackled a circa '95 TransAm, a '11 Camaro SS, a '12 Mustang GT (very very close) a modded Pontiac G8 and a Corvette C6 Grand Sport and a Corvette C6 Automatic. (I was most worried about the Vettes as we give up almost 1000 lbs. As I knew how well I had done in the past, I didn't even bother taking out the baby seats as the starter pointed out. I probaby had an extra 70 lbs of crap in the car that I could have removed. Anyway, I made it to the finals out of about 35 cars- people could buy back in after the first round if they lost. In the finals I was running against another Corvette Grand Sport. Shockingly enough I stuck with him in the first 60 feet giving up a 1/4 car length. The part that was most surprising was that in the final 100 feet, I pulled back even and really thought I had won but I lost by a hair. Damn, shoulda taken the baby seats out and cleared out the trunk. Fun night, The Ticket (Local sports radio) broadcasted the event and my wife heard the whole thing. One proud moment was one of the announcers said "Heck, that AMG is getting off the line really well, are they all wheel drive?"
Ok, so there's that.
I've put 22K miles on it with just a couple of little issues.
So, I've been going to the Friday Night Drags at Texas Motor Speedway for a couple of years.....(mainly because they start at 8:00 on Friday nights and the wife won't give me too much grief). I meet up with a bunch of my car buddies and we have fun. The E63's run in the Sportsman Class which was everything with a V8-- ZR1, CTSV, Z06, Camaros, Mustangs.... so historically I'd usually win a round or two and get sent packing......
I thought I'd share this weeks episode...... So for this year, they separated out all the FI (forced induction- Superchargers and turbo'd) V8s from the Sportsman class. Meaning the top dawgs should be the Z06's.... But, as this is just a 1/8 mile track, launch is king because the run is so short that there isn't enough track to make up a bad start.
So I thought I'd share my night. Over the past couple of years, the best combination I've found for running the grey whale (as I affectionately call her) is this:
#1 run your rear tires at 28 psi. You can leave the fronts alone. This might be the biggest help to get traction off the line. You have to remember that the "recommended" psi settings are for the mfg to get the best mpg on the car..... not the best grip. (I run 28psi at all 4 corners when I take it to the road course or at autoX)
#2 DO NOT USE RaceStart EVER. This feature has been so lawyer'd up it just sucks. (My wife has a Panamera Turbo and the Launch Control feature is great. So simple...... just push a button and destroy.
#3 Torque brake at 1500 rpm. -- otherwise you have to modulate the throttle to avoid too much wheelspin
#4 put it in sport mode to allow for a little bit of wheelspin without the electronic nannys to cut in.
So, I was able to win 6 heats and get to the finals. Along the way I tackled a circa '95 TransAm, a '11 Camaro SS, a '12 Mustang GT (very very close) a modded Pontiac G8 and a Corvette C6 Grand Sport and a Corvette C6 Automatic. (I was most worried about the Vettes as we give up almost 1000 lbs. As I knew how well I had done in the past, I didn't even bother taking out the baby seats as the starter pointed out. I probaby had an extra 70 lbs of crap in the car that I could have removed. Anyway, I made it to the finals out of about 35 cars- people could buy back in after the first round if they lost. In the finals I was running against another Corvette Grand Sport. Shockingly enough I stuck with him in the first 60 feet giving up a 1/4 car length. The part that was most surprising was that in the final 100 feet, I pulled back even and really thought I had won but I lost by a hair. Damn, shoulda taken the baby seats out and cleared out the trunk. Fun night, The Ticket (Local sports radio) broadcasted the event and my wife heard the whole thing. One proud moment was one of the announcers said "Heck, that AMG is getting off the line really well, are they all wheel drive?"
Ok, so there's that.
06-27-2012, 11:04 PM
#5
Senior Member
Times and mph/1/8
Ok, so I have 2 kids (3 year old and 6 month old) and I sold my Carrera S a while back for an '07 E63 and then got a '10 E63. i love it. Other than the craptastic "RaceStart" which is the worst Launch Control system I could fathom, the car is as advertised.
I've put 22K miles on it with just a couple of little issues.
So, I've been going to the Friday Night Drags at Texas Motor Speedway for a couple of years.....(mainly because they start at 8:00 on Friday nights and the wife won't give me too much grief). I meet up with a bunch of my car buddies and we have fun. The E63's run in the Sportsman Class which was everything with a V8-- ZR1, CTSV, Z06, Camaros, Mustangs.... so historically I'd usually win a round or two and get sent packing......
I thought I'd share this weeks episode...... So for this year, they separated out all the FI (forced induction- Superchargers and turbo'd) V8s from the Sportsman class. Meaning the top dawgs should be the Z06's.... But, as this is just a 1/8 mile track, launch is king because the run is so short that there isn't enough track to make up a bad start.
So I thought I'd share my night. Over the past couple of years, the best combination I've found for running the grey whale (as I affectionately call her) is this:
#1 run your rear tires at 28 psi. You can leave the fronts alone. This might be the biggest help to get traction off the line. You have to remember that the "recommended" psi settings are for the mfg to get the best mpg on the car..... not the best grip. (I run 28psi at all 4 corners when I take it to the road course or at autoX)
#2 DO NOT USE RaceStart EVER. This feature has been so lawyer'd up it just sucks. (My wife has a Panamera Turbo and the Launch Control feature is great. So simple...... just push a button and destroy.
#3 Torque brake at 1500 rpm. -- otherwise you have to modulate the throttle to avoid too much wheelspin
#4 put it in sport mode to allow for a little bit of wheelspin without the electronic nannys to cut in.
So, I was able to win 6 heats and get to the finals. Along the way I tackled a circa '95 TransAm, a '11 Camaro SS, a '12 Mustang GT (very very close) a modded Pontiac G8 and a Corvette C6 Grand Sport and a Corvette C6 Automatic. (I was most worried about the Vettes as we give up almost 1000 lbs. As I knew how well I had done in the past, I didn't even bother taking out the baby seats as the starter pointed out. I probaby had an extra 70 lbs of crap in the car that I could have removed. Anyway, I made it to the finals out of about 35 cars- people could buy back in after the first round if they lost. In the finals I was running against another Corvette Grand Sport. Shockingly enough I stuck with him in the first 60 feet giving up a 1/4 car length. The part that was most surprising was that in the final 100 feet, I pulled back even and really thought I had won but I lost by a hair. Damn, shoulda taken the baby seats out and cleared out the trunk. Fun night, The Ticket (Local sports radio) broadcasted the event and my wife heard the whole thing. One proud moment was one of the announcers said "Heck, that AMG is getting off the line really well, are they all wheel drive?"
Ok, so there's that.
I've put 22K miles on it with just a couple of little issues.
So, I've been going to the Friday Night Drags at Texas Motor Speedway for a couple of years.....(mainly because they start at 8:00 on Friday nights and the wife won't give me too much grief). I meet up with a bunch of my car buddies and we have fun. The E63's run in the Sportsman Class which was everything with a V8-- ZR1, CTSV, Z06, Camaros, Mustangs.... so historically I'd usually win a round or two and get sent packing......
I thought I'd share this weeks episode...... So for this year, they separated out all the FI (forced induction- Superchargers and turbo'd) V8s from the Sportsman class. Meaning the top dawgs should be the Z06's.... But, as this is just a 1/8 mile track, launch is king because the run is so short that there isn't enough track to make up a bad start.
So I thought I'd share my night. Over the past couple of years, the best combination I've found for running the grey whale (as I affectionately call her) is this:
#1 run your rear tires at 28 psi. You can leave the fronts alone. This might be the biggest help to get traction off the line. You have to remember that the "recommended" psi settings are for the mfg to get the best mpg on the car..... not the best grip. (I run 28psi at all 4 corners when I take it to the road course or at autoX)
#2 DO NOT USE RaceStart EVER. This feature has been so lawyer'd up it just sucks. (My wife has a Panamera Turbo and the Launch Control feature is great. So simple...... just push a button and destroy.
#3 Torque brake at 1500 rpm. -- otherwise you have to modulate the throttle to avoid too much wheelspin
#4 put it in sport mode to allow for a little bit of wheelspin without the electronic nannys to cut in.
So, I was able to win 6 heats and get to the finals. Along the way I tackled a circa '95 TransAm, a '11 Camaro SS, a '12 Mustang GT (very very close) a modded Pontiac G8 and a Corvette C6 Grand Sport and a Corvette C6 Automatic. (I was most worried about the Vettes as we give up almost 1000 lbs. As I knew how well I had done in the past, I didn't even bother taking out the baby seats as the starter pointed out. I probaby had an extra 70 lbs of crap in the car that I could have removed. Anyway, I made it to the finals out of about 35 cars- people could buy back in after the first round if they lost. In the finals I was running against another Corvette Grand Sport. Shockingly enough I stuck with him in the first 60 feet giving up a 1/4 car length. The part that was most surprising was that in the final 100 feet, I pulled back even and really thought I had won but I lost by a hair. Damn, shoulda taken the baby seats out and cleared out the trunk. Fun night, The Ticket (Local sports radio) broadcasted the event and my wife heard the whole thing. One proud moment was one of the announcers said "Heck, that AMG is getting off the line really well, are they all wheel drive?"
Ok, so there's that.
Thanks,
06-29-2012, 12:39 PM
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W212 E63, 1994 Defender D90-Wifes, Panamera Turbo- Wifes, Track Car- looking... :(
I dunno. They don't have timing devices there. But, I'd bet the overall times are slow. It's not a prepped drag track and traction is terrible. I'll run next Friday night and let you know what speeds I'm hitting......
S
S
07-01-2012, 05:45 AM
#7
Senior Member
This sounds fun. If you feel like switching it up a bit, a few of us have been going to Dallas Raceway in Crandall lately. We consist of a '12 CLS63 with Renntech tune, a '12 911 Turbo with tune and my '07 E63. Probably head out again in late July, but this sounds great in the interim!
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07-02-2012, 03:08 PM
#8
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Very nice!! Wish we had a dragstrip in Conn. That would be so much fun....
7-6 race
07-09-2012, 10:48 AM
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W212 E63, 1994 Defender D90-Wifes, Panamera Turbo- Wifes, Track Car- looking... :(
UPdate for this friday...... 
I couldn't hook at all. A friend in a 997.1 GT3 worked me like a summer job in the practice session. Frankly, I just couldn't get it to hook up.... I'd love to blame the car but a better driver probably could have done better. I made it to the quarter finals and lost to a 5.0 mustang with CAI, tune and exhaust. Damn, those new 5.0s are legit. His launch was salty and had a full car length + for the entire run.
Anyway, I'll go again this Friday and let you know..... hopefully with better results.
I couldn't hook at all. A friend in a 997.1 GT3 worked me like a summer job in the practice session. Frankly, I just couldn't get it to hook up.... I'd love to blame the car but a better driver probably could have done better. I made it to the quarter finals and lost to a 5.0 mustang with CAI, tune and exhaust. Damn, those new 5.0s are legit. His launch was salty and had a full car length + for the entire run.
Anyway, I'll go again this Friday and let you know..... hopefully with better results.
