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      07-18-2020, 11:19 PM   #1
astefanidis1
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First time at the drag strip

Hey guys!

I just recently purchased my E92 M3, and decided to take it to my local drag strip yesterday. Got about 5 runs in, and was surprised with my results.

My M3 is a 2013 Competition package with DCT
The previous owner had installed "pulleys" and a "tune". I have no clue what pulleys or what tune unfortunately.

I personally installed a full catless exhaust.

I also noticed the previous owner installed a Matt Schnell intake which he never mentioned to me but I ain't complaining haha.

My trap speeds were better than I expected, my ET was about what I expected, but my 60 foot was awful. I need advice

DA on the track was about 850 at the time so not bad.

My runs were pretty consistent, my best run was a 12.8 @ 115 MPH, but almost every run was under 13.0 and above 113 MPH.

I believe stock with a DCT should be around a 12.7 @ 113 MPH? Give or take of course. So I'm pretty happy with my trap speed, shows the car isn't really lacking in top end power.

My 12.8 I wasn't too upset about but, my 60 foot times were around 2.3 every time, even 2.4 once. I'm no drag racing expert but I'm pretty sure that's horrible for an E92 M3. I dont understand how I ended up with a 12.8 in that case.

So clearly my issue is at launch. I'm wondering if I can get my 60 foot times to go down, if I can improve on my ET by a decent amount.

The biggest issue is probably my tires. Theyre All Season Michelins, and theyre not in the best of shape. I plan on buying some Michelin PS4S soon (I daily drive this car in rough weather so I dont want to go straight to R compound tires).

I also was running it in MDM mode, without launch control. I was struggling to get launch control to consistently work for me for some reason (I swear I'd go through the steps perfectly and it just wouldn't work sometimes). But even when I did get it to work, it wasn't even really a good launch it was more of just a burnout lol.

Do you think I should try launching with DSC fully off?

Any other ideas as to how I can improve my 60 foot times?

Would the the PS4S make that much of a difference or not really?

Should I be doing burnouts before I stage? I've been skipping out on them

Yes I know I sound like a total amateur but thats just because I really am one, so I'm just here asking for some advice from those that have experience

Thanks in advance!
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      07-19-2020, 03:35 AM   #2
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If you're going to get serious about drag racing the car, buy a separate set of wheels and tires so you can run a Hoosier, Mickey Thompson, or some other type of ultra-sticky race tire. Bring a jack, jackstands, and some basic tools and you can change them out at the track.

A PS4S will be marginally better than an all season but it's a whole different league than an actual race tire.

I'll let others like Longboarder comment on best ways to drag the car.
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      07-19-2020, 09:40 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dparm View Post
If you're going to get serious about drag racing the car, buy a separate set of wheels and tires so you can run a Hoosier, Mickey Thompson, or some other type of ultra-sticky race tire. Bring a jack, jackstands, and some basic tools and you can change them out at the track.

A PS4S will be marginally better than an all season but it's a whole different league than an actual race tire.

I'll let others like Longboarder comment on best ways to drag the car.
Thanks! Yeah honestly I'm not too too serious about drag racing this car just yet. I plan on getting the ESS VT2-625 kit eventually when I can afford it, so by then I'll definitely need some drag radials. For now though, I think id be better off just upgrading to the PS4S for practicality reasons outside of racing, as well as being able to hook somewhat better on the strip until I get the supercharger.
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      07-19-2020, 10:54 AM   #4
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Lower the tire pressure to 25 psi.
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      07-19-2020, 03:35 PM   #5
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The PS4S will be better than the all-season but I wouldn't expect miracles. And yes, I would suggest going DSC off and learning to modulate the throttle to control wheel spin. Find an empty road somewhere where you have plenty of space in case the car tries to spin.
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      07-19-2020, 09:59 PM   #6
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Launch control is nice but it helps to have something like R888 tires aired down to 20 psi.

There are issues with the car "creeping" if you arent using LC and you stab the throttle too slowly. The car will roll forward slightly tripping the beam and then take off. Adds a half a second to your run.

With this car there is no substitute for practice and get a Dragy it will give you all your accel data.
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      07-20-2020, 01:47 AM   #7
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i'm not a drag guy, but does over inflating the front tires help a little bit? like less rolling resistance up front?
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      07-20-2020, 09:03 AM   #8
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It can add maybe a couple tenths of mph in my experience - it also helps keep the rear end down (more spring)

2.3-2.4 60' .... damn son that's like two tenths worse than what I was doing in my 160hp 2000 civic on Kumho 712's back in the stone age you need to find the positions between 0 and 100% on the throttle

If you follow the old rule of thumb that a tenth off the 60' = at least 1.5 tenths off the ET, you ought to be able to get down into the low 12's with a half-decent launch.

Also, you might be better off not using LC on a street tire from what I read on here it can be a smoke show without good traction, not that that helps you lol

All season tires are not necessarily worse than high performance street tires for traction on a prepped strip, but in low-profile sizes I agree a stickier compound probably helps more than a squishy all-season sidewall. And new street tires almost always > old aged-out work-hardened street tires
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      07-20-2020, 11:39 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pbonsalb View Post
Lower the tire pressure to 25 psi.
Just for the rears you think?
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      07-20-2020, 11:40 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dparm View Post
The PS4S will be better than the all-season but I wouldn't expect miracles. And yes, I would suggest going DSC off and learning to modulate the throttle to control wheel spin. Find an empty road somewhere where you have plenty of space in case the car tries to spin.
Yeah im not.expecting much better but I figured itd help a bit. Definitely going to need to find some space to practice
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      07-20-2020, 11:42 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Longboarder View Post
Launch control is nice but it helps to have something like R888 tires aired down to 20 psi.

There are issues with the car "creeping" if you arent using LC and you stab the throttle too slowly. The car will roll forward slightly tripping the beam and then take off. Adds a half a second to your run.

With this car there is no substitute for practice and get a Dragy it will give you all your accel data.
I actually noticed that creeping issue with my E46 to be honest so that doesn't surprise me at all. Also I actually have a dragy haha. It was pretty consistent with what my drag slips at the track said, 12.8ish, 115 MPH ish, 2.3ish 60 foot, and it said my 0-60 was like 5.2 which is atrocious for this car which further proves my 60 foot to be an issue
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      07-20-2020, 11:44 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roastbeef View Post
i'm not a drag guy, but does over inflating the front tires help a little bit? like less rolling resistance up front?
Interesting I never thought of this, I could try that
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      07-20-2020, 11:48 AM   #13
astefanidis1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Richbot View Post
It can add maybe a couple tenths of mph in my experience - it also helps keep the rear end down (more spring)

2.3-2.4 60' .... damn son that's like two tenths worse than what I was doing in my 160hp 2000 civic on Kumho 712's back in the stone age you need to find the positions between 0 and 100% on the throttle

If you follow the old rule of thumb that a tenth off the 60' = at least 1.5 tenths off the ET, you ought to be able to get down into the low 12's with a half-decent launch.

Also, you might be better off not using LC on a street tire from what I read on here it can be a smoke show without good traction, not that that helps you lol

All season tires are not necessarily worse than high performance street tires for traction on a prepped strip, but in low-profile sizes I agree a stickier compound probably helps more than a squishy all-season sidewall. And new street tires almost always > old aged-out work-hardened street tires
Hahahaha dude I know. God awful 60 foot time. Considering my ET and my trap speed, I figured if I can fix my 60 foot to atleast a decent time I'd get low 12s but that'd be pretty wild for a mostly stock E92.

Yeah I think ill avoid launch control until I get some super sticky tires that could handle it. I think im going to get some PS4S just so I atleast have some better tires than I have now, and I'm just going to find an empty parking lot to practice launching with DSC fully off.
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      01-24-2021, 09:05 PM   #14
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I know it's off season now but I used to drag race. Back in the mid '90s I used to drag race my 1987 Mustang 5.0 LX 5speed. I bracket raced, I was racing against my own best guess ET. It was a mostly stock 225hp/300ft-lb motor with higher rear-end gear and 100% street tires. Car weighed around 3000 lbs. Now the M3 weighs about 500lbs more. Same torque but 200 more horses. I thought I was so fast back then. Looking at the specs now, it's pretty funny. Running on street tires is still very fun. The key is drive AROUND the burnout box. Sooooo many drivers like to smoke their street tires in the box like the big boys do. Sadly, heating up street tires only makes them slippery. Some heat is fine of course but a full on burnout makes them slick. Whereas a burnout on a dedicated race slick is the best way to heat them up to operating temperature. Also, keep the launch rpm low. Again, with dedicated slicks, you need a high rpm to overcome the friction produced by the slicks. On street tires you need just enough to spin the tires a little bit but not spin them excessively. Torque is what gets you moving and since the M3 has about the same as the 33yr old Mustang, I would treat it the same. Since the M3 revs significantly higher with more HP, top end should be better than the my Mustang and a mid 12sec ET seems reasonable. The S65 engine was never really intended for straight line racing like American V8s are but it still stout enough to have loads of fun.
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