Convincing my Dad Santa Pod aint no 'stunt' for boy racers?
Discussion
Hiya,
Well ive decided to come down to Santa Pod RWYB on 25th of this month.
Mentioned it to my Dad & he was like yeh, love to, come down in your car with you.. proud as punch and all that!
Then i told him i was going to run it up the strip! Cutting a lot of words short, he thinks its a stupid 'stunt' and i want to 'show off' You wouldnt believe im 29 & have my own home etc.. nope, im just a childish boy racer again he he!
So im trying to convince him that done right its a safe and sensible way of getting a measure of your cars performance and having fun etc etc....
hes just sees it as me endangering my life & me lovely shiney new car....
Ive run santa pod before in my cossie, and been going there every year to watch for at least 7 years now, i feel i have a good sense of the place...
What do you guys think? Am i not respecting whats involved?? Is there any sensible arguement for going drag racing that you can give to someone not clued up on the scene?
Gawd i feel like a kid again!
Any ideas chappies
Well ive decided to come down to Santa Pod RWYB on 25th of this month.
Mentioned it to my Dad & he was like yeh, love to, come down in your car with you.. proud as punch and all that!
Then i told him i was going to run it up the strip! Cutting a lot of words short, he thinks its a stupid 'stunt' and i want to 'show off' You wouldnt believe im 29 & have my own home etc.. nope, im just a childish boy racer again he he!
So im trying to convince him that done right its a safe and sensible way of getting a measure of your cars performance and having fun etc etc....
hes just sees it as me endangering my life & me lovely shiney new car....
Ive run santa pod before in my cossie, and been going there every year to watch for at least 7 years now, i feel i have a good sense of the place...
What do you guys think? Am i not respecting whats involved?? Is there any sensible arguement for going drag racing that you can give to someone not clued up on the scene?
Gawd i feel like a kid again!
Any ideas chappies
It is without doubt the safest enviroment to test the performance of your vehicle from a standing start over a 1/4 mile.
If your not into cars, then this will seem a pointless exercise of course!
But it's your hobby & arguably no dafter than rock climbing, fishing, watching people kick/hit balls etc. etc.
If your not into cars, then this will seem a pointless exercise of course!
But it's your hobby & arguably no dafter than rock climbing, fishing, watching people kick/hit balls etc. etc.
As has been said, the drag strip is possibly one of the safest places that you can get used to/experience the full potential of your car in a straight line...
As long as you don't redline it and side-step the clutch off the line you really won't have any problems..
I'd recommend that anyone who has the chance to run the quarter mile grab it with both hands and enjoy it... you'd be suprised how tricky the first run is, but it's a buzz, man it's a buzz when you first pull a good light and a good run...
Go for it...
As I said in another thread...
slinky
587racing.com
As long as you don't redline it and side-step the clutch off the line you really won't have any problems..
I'd recommend that anyone who has the chance to run the quarter mile grab it with both hands and enjoy it... you'd be suprised how tricky the first run is, but it's a buzz, man it's a buzz when you first pull a good light and a good run...
Go for it...
As I said in another thread...
slinky said:
Some tips for an enjoyable day
1.) you don't have to nail it off the startline.
2.) you don't need to do a burnout, it will probably make no difference if you do anyway..
3.) If you wait for the green light, you've gone too late.. wait for the last amber, but don't go before it!
4.) There is an amber light just past the finish line in each lane at santa pod to tell you which lane won the race..
5.) I'm not sure whether helmets are mandatory at the moment, if you have one, take it.
6.) Wear a long sleeved top, and don't wear shorts.
Find a quiet road before you go and practice holding the car at your chosen launch revs, it'd be a shame to waste runs with practising your thottle technique.
Feel free to drop me a line if you've got any questions..
slinky
587racing.com
Well i now have one other problem....
Phone my insurance company, my policy does not cover drag racing & they cannot add it
The will cover track but not drag...
So i fear from my own reasons now and not my fathers i may not run it! I know how safe it is, and I can drive very well... but its the 'what if' factor when running a car which ive spent so much to buy without insurance...
Will be there for defo to meet some of you guys though!
Bugger!
Phone my insurance company, my policy does not cover drag racing & they cannot add it
The will cover track but not drag... So i fear from my own reasons now and not my fathers i may not run it! I know how safe it is, and I can drive very well... but its the 'what if' factor when running a car which ive spent so much to buy without insurance...
Will be there for defo to meet some of you guys though!
Bugger!
As others have said it is a pretty safe enviroment. I would suggest considerably safer than driving on the road!!
There are only 2 cars, they are both going the same way, under the control of marshalls with emergency services on standby, and racing stops if it rains.
Compare that to the M25, on a dark friday winters evening rush hour, in heavy rain, surrounded by nutters who are not concentrating or using their phones. I know where i would rather be!!!!
If you are still not sure bring your licence anyway and make your mind up on the day.
Hope to see you there.
There are only 2 cars, they are both going the same way, under the control of marshalls with emergency services on standby, and racing stops if it rains.
Compare that to the M25, on a dark friday winters evening rush hour, in heavy rain, surrounded by nutters who are not concentrating or using their phones. I know where i would rather be!!!!
If you are still not sure bring your licence anyway and make your mind up on the day.
Hope to see you there.
Yeah if you want you can wait till the other car has made it half way or all the way up the track. The only thing affected is your reaction time, the 60' and 1/4 mile times etc will be the same whatever happens. The its just you and the equivalent of a 4 lane highway, what can be safer than that?
Stuff your parents. You're a grown man. It's your car. I've been up the drag strip on numerous occasions and the only damage has been to my wallet paying to get in and run on the track. To be honest, I've rarely seen any street cars get into any trouble, it's only the really fast drag cars that have a tendency to lose control.
To recap. Straight line, no corners, changing gear as fast as you can, braking on a runoff long enough to stop a Jumbo jet.
To recap. Straight line, no corners, changing gear as fast as you can, braking on a runoff long enough to stop a Jumbo jet.
If you are any way into cars at all, have a go.
The only bad thing about it is, that once yo do have a ago, you'll want to come back more and more, and end up spending money to go faster !!!!!
Looks like I might even be there to spectate. Not in my own car unfortunately. It'll be one of them Monaro thingies
The only bad thing about it is, that once yo do have a ago, you'll want to come back more and more, and end up spending money to go faster !!!!!
Looks like I might even be there to spectate. Not in my own car unfortunately. It'll be one of them Monaro thingies
It's not automatic that you'll want to go faster except if you're slow. Having turned in a fairly effortless 13.8 over the quarter in my Z28 (rolling off the line without trying to break anything), I soon came to realise that
(a) that's as fast as an Aston Martin and a dropped clutch Evo 8 anyway and
(b) why would I want to go any faster when
(c) I have a Z06 which I know is faster.
For me, essentially, I find the point of drag racing is to quantify how fast your car is and finding out that it is or isn't. In short, it's where the BS stops and the evidence starts. With a timing slip, you have nothing to prove.
It is an experience everyone should try although it's still no gauge for the real world where stopping, cornering and numpties are all out to frustrate absolute performance and where torque and response is often a more pleasing weapon than outright power.
(a) that's as fast as an Aston Martin and a dropped clutch Evo 8 anyway and
(b) why would I want to go any faster when
(c) I have a Z06 which I know is faster.
For me, essentially, I find the point of drag racing is to quantify how fast your car is and finding out that it is or isn't. In short, it's where the BS stops and the evidence starts. With a timing slip, you have nothing to prove.
It is an experience everyone should try although it's still no gauge for the real world where stopping, cornering and numpties are all out to frustrate absolute performance and where torque and response is often a more pleasing weapon than outright power.
If you're worried about running in a straight line up a drag strip, you wouldn't want to several laps of the nurburgring! Just returned from a few days touring over there - I admit it, I was sxxx scared at times! Ironically, you ARE insured at the ring (unless its specifically excluded on your policy) as it's classed as a public toll road. Witnessed several accidents whilst I was there, but I survived ok.
Take your car for a run at Santa pod. It's certainly much safer that other tracks/roads, as others have pointed out, but the full bore starts can be a little hard on the car mechanically - clutch/gears etc, so take it easy to start.
Take your car for a run at Santa pod. It's certainly much safer that other tracks/roads, as others have pointed out, but the full bore starts can be a little hard on the car mechanically - clutch/gears etc, so take it easy to start.
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