Advice for 1/4 mile

[spacerat]

Ive only ever done one 1/4 mile sprint before and that was inters 2004 at raf brentwiter on a concrete track and pissing down with rain, i was 19 and in a 200bhp mk4 1.8t, it started badly with loads of wheelspin.
This weekend im looking forward to taking my mk2 1.8t out on the track at santa pod ,  are there any hardcore sprinters here with any proper advice or tips for pull away.  I could just go there wait for the lights and give it large but surely theres common mistakes that everyone makes that could take half a second off their time?

[Stu.750]

Feather the clutch , dont just dump it , balance the revs to find the place between boging down and spinning the wheels

 adjustable shocks stiffen the rear , stops the weight transfer , depending on tyres maybe play with the pressures

have fun , keep an eye on temps tho , cars can overhear while your queing

[A7 UFO]

empty the car of all unneccessary crap.  If you're committed, remove the spare wheel and the rear bench etc.  Weight only slows your down afterall.

Deflate the front tyres and increase the rear.

[Len]

If its at Santa Pod you will get a lot more grip on the line than on normal roads. So up the revs a little from what you would normally expect to get wheelspin.

Try to change up before the rev limiter!

[Chris-White]

Take your time to stage up.

Launch at around 3k, feed the clutch out quickly, but dont dump it.
I personally like to hold it on the handbrake at the start with the car on th biting point, then drop the handbrake when the lights go.

from then on just floor it really!

DONT hit the limiter!!!

if you want to save your tyres a bit you can drive around the water in the burnout patch so you dont have to light em up. 

[gibby]

If you're racing someone else make sure you're staged first i.e. get to the start line first. This way you can get yourself composed waiting for the other guy to get staged, because as soon as you're both staged the race more or less starts straight away. Also, set off when the last set of yellow lights show (2nd row I think) as by the time you've reacted from seeing that, the lights will be green and it will be time to go.

Don't keep missing second gear like I did ! Try and keep gear changes smooth as you can (especially 1 - 2) and try not to smash them in quickly like I was doing and I missed it a couple of times. Not good.

If I remember correctly the PA gives various hints and tips on good 1/4ing throughout the day too.

[Diamond Hell]

All the fandango you'll ever need is here

[eightyeightmph]

Good little into!

http://www.torquecars.com/articles/drag-techniques.php

[spacerat]

thanks for the info, ill give it my best shot and see what i can do 

[spacerat]

well my best run was also my first at 14.44  after that the car was getting too hot and overfuelling i think, black smoke was seen on pull away.  next time im aiming for mid 13's as enough people were saying they reckon the car is capable. just gotta sort out the driver