Getting traction in an M6

**blk-ws6** · 07-31-2008, 04:49 PM

I was running 10s in the 1/8th mile because i kept spinning the tires. I reved to about 2,000- 2,500 RPMs and dumped the clutch. Didnt drive through the water box either. Shouldnt my car (04 gto corsa exhaust) run in the 8s?

Help me get traction please lol

**Hot Black Trans-Am** · 07-31-2008, 06:18 PM

Try about 1500 and roll into the throttle. If your on street tires you don't need to launch over idle really. You'll just smoke the tires.

**Tide** · 08-01-2008, 08:12 AM

On streets, do as HBTA said: roll onto the throttle just off idle. Nothing too agressive as you'll just spin the tires. On streets, on a good track, I'm able to get 8.4-8.5 fairly consistently. On a set of DRs, I dropped it down to 8.0-8.1, and since have been dinging 7.8-7.9. Keep in mind, I'm stock in the engine department. All I've added is subframe connectors, one piece driveshaft, replaced all the bushings with Pedders, new engine crossbrace, and a few other suspension goodies.

**blk-ws6** · 08-02-2008, 11:56 AM

well last night i did a best run of 9.7 ... it was like a shitty 2.56 60ft and my reaction was a 1.1 (i need practice). But it felt like my car wouldnt make any power til about 3500-4000 rpm.. they should have more tq than hp right?

**DocEwww** · 08-03-2008, 06:09 AM

Try riding the clutch more. Helps me in preventing wheel hop.

**xzaero0** · 08-06-2008, 06:36 AM

A friend of mines 06 GTO has terrible wheel hop, I think the best hes ran in the 1/8th is around a 9.7+.

**Tide** · 08-06-2008, 08:42 AM

Your buddy needs to learn how to drive. A 9.7 is awful. Is he running a 3.0 second 60'?

**Wesman** · 08-06-2008, 09:12 AM

Your first mistake is dropping the clutch. That shocks the driveline and immediately breaks the tires loose. What you want to do it ease off the clutch. Rev to your desired RPM, and when you go to takeoff, just come off the clutch quickly and steadily without dumping it.

Seconly, if you are spinning too much on the launch, you need to lower your launch RPM. So if you launch at 2,000RPM and it was spinning, come down to 1800RPM and try again. You just need to find the sweet spot that gives you the best traction without bogging down too much.

**Tide** · 08-06-2008, 10:01 AM

Some good advice from Wesman....

To add:
Pay attention to ambient temp and humidity, and track temp. Also pay attention to what side of the track is the quickest.

Move your seat up with the seatback slightly upright. Riding low and far back may be 'cool', but it's lousy in terms of leverage and reach. You want it far enough up so that you're not reaching for the shifter and you can depress the clutch all the way in without extending your ankle and still having a slight bend in your knee. I even go so far as to removing the floormat so that it isn't bunched up even the smallest amount under the throttle.

Invest in a good shifter. The stock one is absolute crap; especially in terms of the 2-3 gating.

If on streets, don't roll through the burnout box. Don't smoke the tires. Just a quick little spin to get any dirt/debris off is enough (hot street tires get greasy). If on DRs, you don't need to spin them long to get them up to temp. Play around with air pressure to figure out what gives you the most bite. Unless you can reliably powerbreak it without killing it 99 times out of 100, invest in a linelock. Also, make sure your Traction Control is turned off when trying to warm them up. Nothing screams "N00B" louder than killing it trying to powerbreak/warm the tires.

If you're still learning, don't worry about RT. Just focus on the launch at your track. If you are worried about RT, then your "GO!" point should be when the tree reaches its second to last lights before the green.

Launching smoothly with an M6 is almost a dance. You want the RPMs high enough (and sustained at such point) to where you don't bog, but you don't spin (or at least the very minimal amount) either. In that respect, the clutch basically becomes the throttle. Wheelspin is, at it's core, wasted forward momentum and loss of energy. Anyway, once underway, if you don't have a shiftlight, pay attention to the tach. Since you're still learning, you should make an effot to have your mind tell your body to shift once the tach reaches about 5,000 RPMs to allow the body to catch up to what you want it to do. You don't want to be banging into the rev limiter and still in gear. In the 1/8th, I actually short shift 2nd to 3rd (at about 4,800 RPMS) to allow 3rd gear to pull me through the traps. 3rd pulls harder at 3800-4000 RPMS than 2nd does at 5,500 RPMs when the LS1 starts to run out of breath.

Now, the question is do you let off the gas between shifts? Or keep it hammered to the floor? That's up to you. If you were worried about abusing your car, you wouldn't have it at the track. I keep the throttle down because I'm confident in my ability to hit the shift cleanly, and if I bust the tranny I'm not too concerned about it. Ultimately you have to go with what gets you the best results and satisfies your peace of mind in terms of equipment failure.

Other, car prep:
Run with a 1/4 tank of fuel or less.
Remove as much weight as possible (spare, jack, front skid plate, etc)
While in line, have your hood unlatched or open to allow heat to escape. Don't run the A/C.
Avoid caffenated drinks as much as possible. You're likely to have your adrenaline pumping anyway, so you don't need any assistance there.
Take some deep breaths before staging to calm yourself down.
Don't worry about the car next to you - he's going to run what he's going to run. Nothing you can do about that.
Get staged quickly and correctly.

**xzaero0** · 08-06-2008, 10:48 AM

Yeah he finally got his street launching down. Its his Check out my launch tread.

Still the track here is horrible, little to no track prep, and they all look at you stupidly if you try to drive around the water. One guy even told me I "HAD" to drive through the water before I staged.

They even have you line up right behind the cars that are staged to run, like mabey 2-2.5 cars back. I have had many times I have had to clean the rubber off of my hood, and front clip from the cars leaving the line, and if you wont pull up they treat you like your a noob and order you to pull up.

Hell I cannot even get traction with my TA A4, 8.6 is the best I have run there so far w/o slicks.

Track prep may have alot to do with how well the OP runs at that track.

**Rhinoman** · 08-06-2008, 11:30 AM

Originally Posted by Wade M

Your buddy needs to learn how to drive. A 9.7 is awful. Is he running a 3.0 second 60'?

I think I drive just fine and I know I can break 8 second eighth miles on the street. I just cant do it at the track.

**Tide** · 08-07-2008, 07:26 AM

Are you running those tires/rims (in your avatar picture)? If so, that's part of your problem. Ultra low profile tires like that are horrible for straight line acceleration.

It can be a combination of things: Too aggressive on the launch, track prep, tire set up, etc. Posting good times in the 1/8th is mostly about the launch, IMHO. The rest is just nailing your shifts and keeping your foot down through the traps.

That said, an '06 should have no problem dinging 8's. I'd start off with no higher than 1,000 RPMs, then slowly work your way up to the point you start breaking lose. Hell, turn your TC on, and see if that helps.

Find a couple used 17" rims, slap some DR's on them, and you'll see dramatic improvements.

**Rhinoman** · 08-07-2008, 10:44 AM

Originally Posted by Wade M

Are you running those tires/rims (in your avatar picture)? If so, that's part of your problem. Ultra low profile tires like that are horrible for straight line acceleration.

It can be a combination of things: Too aggressive on the launch, track prep, tire set up, etc. Posting good times in the 1/8th is mostly about the launch, IMHO. The rest is just nailing your shifts and keeping your foot down through the traps.

That said, an '06 should have no problem dinging 8's. I'd start off with no higher than 1,000 RPMs, then slowly work your way up to the point you start breaking lose. Hell, turn your TC on, and see if that helps.

Find a couple used 17" rims, slap some DR's on them, and you'll see dramatic improvements.

I only tried my stock rims and tires at the track so far so your right, I'm not running with the right rubber. I'm kinda short in the money department so most of the time I'm just cruising and running on the street. Most of my mods are in my motor, the only mod in suspension are my subframes. Those really helped out with wheel hop. But I just can't seem to get it down on the track. But keep in mind that I only ran at the track about four times total. I'm kinda nervous about snapping my U-joint, I'm prob pushing 365-390 to the wheels and heard that the U-joint is weak in the goats. Should I worry?

**Tide** · 08-07-2008, 01:05 PM

I've made 200+ passes on DR's at various RPMs, easily the same amount of powerbreaks. Lets not count the number of times I've romped on it in an empty parking lot or deserted straight line road (4500 RPM clutch drops in 2nd gear are

). I've got some looseness in the rear end, but not much, also keeping in mind I'm at 53,000 miles or so.

Besides, it's just a U joint. Cheap and easy fix. And don't worry about the half shafts either. There's guys at 700+ hp on stock.