Anyone have any advice for a n00b on slicks?

[rcviper]

Took the car to the track for the first time tonight. Mounted up the Mickey Thompson ET Drags and man was it the scariest moment I've ever had in any car. Couldn't really burn them enough because the car would start moving and I'd shoot up to the staging line.:bash:

So at about 70 the car would just get all squirrely and the back end was floating ALL OVER THE PLACE. I got so scared I backed off and hit the brakes running a 16.1 @ 60 mph:coolugh:. Everyone was telling me that is normal the car floats but I'm like god damn man anymore and I'm going to lose it. Ok, so the 2nd run I dropped the clutch at 7k and get it to stick pretty well and a good run going at about 80 this time the back end just keeps sliding and sliding to the left. Almost met the wall so I let off the gas and hit the brakes again way before the 1320.

I mean damn man, is the car really supposed to be that bad? I was scared to death of going out of control at those speeds. I rolled back after the 2nd run and put the 18s back on. Enough of that bull$hit, I'll keep my 2.4 60's if it means I keep my car in one piece.:hammer:

[andrave]

do you have an LSD, and what tire pressures were you running? check to make sure that your tire pressures were identical. And I'm guessing you did, but with slicks if you wanna burnout you can hit the water box now too.

[rcviper]

I have a custom made locked rear end, so both wheels are spinning at the same speed all the time. Tire pressure I didn't check to see if they were identical, didn't have time but that could expain it for sure. They were set at 10 psi a week ago, not sure if they were still at that. I was going through the waterbox doing the burnouts. They gripped too much to stay in there long enough to generate some smoke.:axe:

[240Dave]

Sounds like it's time for line lock :)

When you say custom made locked rear, did they just weld an open diff or do you have something special? I think I'm just going to weld mine, hehe.

[rcviper]

Yeah I really need a line lock. It is a diff. built from the ground up for the car. Very similar to a "Detroit Locker" rear end you'd see on an old muscle car that goes "clank, clank, clank" when you turn the wheel. This thing will hold more horsepower than I'll ever have to worry about achieving in this car.

Any suggestions to make the car more surefooted at 100+ speeds now? It doesn't feel safe at all, just have the car lowered with Tokico Blues. Strut bars and sway bars?

[240Dave]

I wonder how much a rear spoiler would help for this type of thing...Like one of those long flat ones you see a lot of drag guys use.
Maybe a big front airdam or something? I don't know much about drag racing but it seems like with the weigh shifted to the rear you'd get a lot of air underneath the car causing a lot of lift making the car unstable.
Like I said, don't know anything about it...just thinking.

PS: I dono if you want to post it here, or have it in a thread somewhere else, maybe you could PM it to me, but what all do you have done to your car?

[the head]

just put some r compound tires on you don't need slicks for a 15 second car Yok A032R or somthin will do the job perfectly and the stiffer sidewall will help with stability

[sykikchimp]

tire pressure is important. Make sure they are the same, and I have no idea what a good pressure for ET's is, but 10psi just seems really low..

[rcviper]

Originally posted by the head
just put some r compound tires on you don't need slicks for a 15 second car Yok A032R or somthin will do the job perfectly and the stiffer sidewall will help with stability

Check my sig, I'm putting down 422 to the rear wheels. If I could keep the car going straight it will be an 11 second timeslip :)

AO32Rs would help over the street tires but I want to use these slicks, I should be able to stick some mid to high 1 second 60's when I get the line lock. I'm going to order an aluminum driveshaft as well, this two piece I'm afraid won't take much even though my car only has 60k on it.

Yeah not positive on tire pressure but I was told by a few at the track(who knows how well they know either) that 10 psi or so is where you want it. Feels too damn sloppy to me, maybe cranking the pressure up some more will yield better control. I don't want to be :Owned: by the wall and become an:angel:

[andrave]

I hate to suggest it, but if there are some domestic guys at your strip, half of those guys usually run on those same mt tires...
maybe you could talk to them for some tips, I mean everyone one at the strips I have been to is really really friendly and helpful, unless you are a big dick or don't pay attention or act like a candy ass when you lose.