Thought I'd post these here since I was pretty amazed this past Friday night. I went drag racing for the first time three weeks ago after having my car for a year. My best time that night was 13.94s with most of my times being pretty terrible due to awful launches where my tires wouldn't hook. I went again this past Friday evening and did much better. I think it was mostly due to the weather which was about 15-20 degrees cooler but also the first time I built up a lot of gunk on my tires which didn't happen this time.

Before I went I looked for some reference times on the internet and just found some scattered mentions in the range of the high 13s to low 14s. I figured I'd add my times here for the next person who'd like an idea of what their car can do and how well they're doing. I did all these runs with traction control on and I skipped the water box as well as skipped spinning the tires to warm them up.

2011 automatic MCA
- 3.31 gears
- JLT CAI
- Bama 93R tune
- glass roof (noting just for the weight)
- stock MCA wheels and tires

Car ran consistently in the 13.7s range with my best being 13.67s. If there are any members in the New England area who go to New England Dragway just ping me. I'll be going up by myself again in two weeks hopefully.

 

Nice times Tom!
I guess those new V6s go pretty fast.
The guys in the NHMC keep trying to get me to go to NED with my S/C car.
I guess I will have to give in soon.
Question: Their rules say under 13.99 requires helmet, did you use one?
That's one of my excuses for not going, I don't have one.

 

Those times are right where they should be for your combo and mods.

No helmet is a poor excuse not to go race. A helmet good enough to pass for a street tire car can be had pretty cheap. Heck, even a current full legal Snell 2010 spec helmet can be had for less than $150.

 

Of course it is a poor excuse.
That's why its an excuse not a reason.

 

Not a good reason either!

 

When I first went three weeks ago I borrowed someone from work's helmet. At the tech inspection the guy asked me what I expected to run and I said low 14s since I didn't know what it would do. He didn't ask me about a helmet but maybe he noticed it in the car. This time someone different inspected my car and he asked to see one. I told him I didn't bring one since last time I ran in the 14s. He said he expected my car to do better than that and under 14 once would be a warning and twice would be a ban for the night. There's a bit of the honor system at play there... I'll be borrowing one to go again. I think if it's obvious that your car will be under 14 they'll give you more scrutiny. All that said, there was a crash this Friday evening which made me realize that wearing one is just a good idea in general. I believe the inspector mentioned that they sell helmets at the track for $135.

 

Yeah, I think my S/C car would be a helmet for sure at first glance.

 

Here's a good deal on the latest snell SA2010 rated helmet.
http://pitstopusa.com/i-5923339-race...ce-helmet.html

You can find older rated helmets for quite a bit less that will pass for street tire cars but get one of the above and you will be good for a long time to come.

 

....

 

Can't you just use a motorcycle helmet as long as it's DOT? You can find them for less than $100 if you can.

 

How much is protecting your head worth?

 

Now no excuse not to go.