I plan on hitting the track this weekend and I'm looking for a little insider info from those of you that race at the drag strip.

Currently my XF is losing traction very easily, even at decent speeds, so I'm wondering if they have a tendency to break loose further down the track or fishtailing. I really don't want to get into the wall, as my local track generally has crappy prep.

Also, from what I've read on here with my mods I should launch at idle in first gear. Do you guys just floor it on the 2nd light or gradually floor the accelerator when running street tires?

 

No issues I am aware of besides losing it off the line until it hooks up. Invest in some good drag radials and hopefully they prep the track very well. I never raced mine with street tires, so I'm sure others will chime in. I always launch around 1500 rpms.

 

^ditto. Get some drag radials. If u are on street tires, i found the best way to launch is at 1500 and get on it easy, but im a rookie.Resist the tempation to go WOT. If u heat the tires up u might be able to get away with it depending on the tires u have. With ur mods id say get drs or u will be disappointed. Dont worry to much about going sideways. Traction control isnt fully off. Unless u pull the fuse out.

 

With street tires you have to ease into the throttle to get moving and then mash it......

I have done pretty good with the Kumho Ecsta's on a WELL prepped track..... 12.2 @ 115mph if I recall right...

 

I hit the street a little while ago and did some launches. I was very surprised at how well it hooked with TC off in first gear. As long as I rolled into the throttle it hooked and booked. I did notice a lot of activity from the "brake" light, which I assume was the PCM keeping the nose pointed forward. At this point I couldn't be any happier with the launch and traction.

 

no issues down the track. the only issue i ever had was a spin in 3rd gear after an entire nit of racing. by 1 am the left lane was a grease pit.

theres a catch 22 with the dr.'s anthony. they hook really well thats the upside. the downside is they hook so well you can run the risk of breaking the spider gears in the rear diff. hence the wavetrac g/b. if you want my dr.'s i can drop them off tomorrow on my way to indy. let me know

 

just a word of warning to all. If you do test and tune nights, all kinds of cars are out there. If they puke water down the track, you may not see this. I had wheel spin one night 2/3 the way down the track....Always stay alert...but, for the first timer....just go have fun...experiment, watch for awhile, before you go stage...go up, clean your tires, they aren't slicks, so don't spin all the rubber off them, lol...just clean them, stage, when you see that last yellow light come on, mash the gas and hang on....just keep her straight foot to the floor....and then brag about that 12 second run...lol

 

Ran on street tires 275/35 NT555's, TC off, put it in 1st manual mode, always cleaned off the tires 2-3 sec burn. 26 psi in the tires, launched from 1,300-1,500 rpms. Never lost traction after the first 60 ft but i always kept my eye on the Yellow traction light. It will start to blink before the car even swings. If it does just back off the throttle partially and increase in a quick fashion until light quits blinking.

Key thing is if your car ever does start to kick sideways dont let off the throttle instantly all the way the car can do very unpredictable things in a quick fashion.

 

You guys are masking the pedal at the yellow light I'm guessing because of the delay from the tine you hit the pedal to the Time the car moves right?